Medicare pays doctors to screen women aged 40-74 for breast cancer risk.
S. 5258 — PREFERRED Screening Act · Filed by Bill Cassidy (R-LA) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Aug 5, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
The bill creates a new way for Medicare to pay doctors. Doctors will do breast cancer risk checks for people aged 40 to 74. Doctors will use gene tests and family history to find risk. They will also look at breast tissue type and habits. Doctors will then make a plan for how often screening should happen. The program will run for 7 years. It will focus on areas where more people die from breast cancer. It will also focus on areas where fewer people get care.
Who it affects
People on Medicare aged 40 to 74 will get risk checks. Doctors and other health workers will get paid to do these checks. People in areas with less care are the main focus.
One thing to notice
The bill pays for gene tests and risk plans. It does not require proof that screening helps people stay well.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Republicans.
- Aug 5, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Aug 5, 2026 — Referred to Senate Committee on Finance · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- gene tests — Tests that look at a person's DNA to find disease risk.
- breast tissue type — How much fibrous tissue versus fat is in the breast.
- screening — Tests done to find disease in people who have no signs of illness.
- areas with less care — Places where people have less access to doctors and health care.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (15,413 characters) on Aug 12, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,707 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-09-23.
“Medicare pays doctors to screen women aged 40-74 for breast cancer risk.” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/s5258/simple Report an error