Increasing Access to Lung Cancer Screening Act

HR6178, the Increasing Access to Lung Cancer Screening Act, was introduced in the House on November 20, 2025 by Representative Kathy Castor (D-FL) with 6 cosponsors. The bill was referred to both the Energy and Commerce Committee and the Ways and Means Committee. As of today, April 28, 2026, the bill remains in committee with no further action — it is an early-stage bill in the 119th Congress with limited legislative momentum.

The bill mandates coverage of annual lung cancer screenings (low-dose CT) with zero cost-sharing and no prior authorization under Medicaid, Medicare, and private insurance for individuals meeting USPSTF guidelines. It also expands Medicaid coverage of tobacco cessation counseling and pharmacotherapy from only pregnant women to all beneficiaries. Critically, this is an authorization bill — it mandates coverage but does not appropriate any specific funding. The Congressional Budget Office would need to score the cost, but actual spending would flow through existing insurance payment mechanisms (Medicaid state plan amendments, Medicare Part B, commercial insurance rates), not through a new appropriation.

The money trail is straightforward: this bill creates a federal mandate that insurance plans must pay for these services. For diagnostic lab companies like Labcorp ($LH, $259.57) and Quest Diagnostics ($DGX, $195.05), the mechanism is increased volume of low-dose CT scans and downstream diagnostic lab work. For CVS Health ($80.98), the tobacco cessation pharmacotherapy expansion drives incremental prescription volume for smoking cessation drugs (both OTC and prescription) filled at CVS pharmacies and processed through Caremark PBM. The prior authorization ban reduces administrative friction for labs and providers, accelerating the utilization increase.

Real market data shows a clear divergence in recent performance. Diagnostic lab stocks have been under pressure: $LH is down 4.79% in 7 days and 1.75% in 30 days at $259.57; $DGX is down 4.39% in 7 days and 0.24% in 30 days at $195.05. In contrast, managed care insurers have rallied sharply: $UNH up 3.75% in 7 days and 41.6% in 30 days; $HUM up 5.67% in 7 days and 35.86% in 30 days; $CNC up 27.33% in 7 days and 54.91% in 30 days. This recent price action is likely driven by broader sector dynamics (Medicare Advantage rate announcements, the Apr 18 executive order on accelerated medical treatments which may encompass broader healthcare delivery changes) rather than this specific early-stage bill.

The legislative timeline is uncertain. With only 6 cosponsors and referral to two committees, this bill faces a long path to enactment. No companion bill has been introduced in the Senate. The 119th Congress has until January 2027 to advance legislation. The bill's structural impact — increased testing utilization — is real but the probability of enactment in this Congress is moderate at best given the partisan climate and the bill's Medicare/Medicaid expansion nature.