HR4417-119

What This Bill Does

The Mobile Cancer Screening Act responds to low early detection rates, especially for lung cancer: 2 million U.S. cancer diagnoses each year, 127,070 lung-cancer deaths in 2023, only 4.5 percent of eligible people screened for lung cancer in 2022, and only 26.6 percent of lung cancer cases diagnosed at an early stage despite a 63 percent five-year survival rate when caught early. The bill directs the Secretary, acting through HRSA, to award grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements for new mobile cancer screening units that expand access in rural and underserved areas. Eligible entities include nonprofit hospitals, federally qualified health centers, academic health centers, health systems, and collaborations among them. Funds can buy commercial vehicles, imaging technology, digital tools, and other essential startup or operating costs. Awards are capped at $2 million. HRSA must prioritize applicants with the highest potential effect on mortality and screening gaps for high-risk individuals, applicants serving rural areas or areas served by the Indian Health Service, and applicants able to provide comprehensive follow-up care for abnormal findings within 90 minutes by ground transportation. Recipients must contribute at least $1 nonfederal for every $3 awarded, and HHS must report to Congress within four years.

Who Benefits and How

Rural patients benefit from mobile screening units that bring cancer screening closer to underserved communities. High-risk people eligible for lung cancer screening benefit from grants targeted at mortality impact and screening gaps. Federally qualified health centers and nonprofit hospitals benefit from awards for vehicles, imaging technology, digital tools, and startup costs. Patients in Indian Health Service areas benefit because HRSA must prioritize applicants serving those areas.

Who Bears the Burden and How

HRSA must run the grant, contract, or cooperative-agreement program and submit a four-year congressional report. Award recipients must provide a one-to-three nonfederal match and arrange comprehensive follow-up care within 90 minutes by ground transportation. Mobile screening operators must cover equipment, staffing, digital tools, vehicle operation, and abnormal-finding workflows. Federal taxpayers fund awards of up to $2 million per selected entity.

Key Provisions

• Creates HRSA awards for new mobile cancer screening units in rural and underserved areas.
• Caps each award at $2 million and allows vehicle, imaging, digital tool, startup, and operating costs.
• Requires HRSA to prioritize mortality impact, high-risk screening gaps, rural areas, Indian Health Service areas, and follow-up care within 90 minutes.
• Requires recipients to contribute at least $1 nonfederal for every $3 in federal award funds and requires a four-year report.