Cancer Genetic and Genomic Testing Health Equity Fund

About Cancer Genetic and Genomic Testing Health Equity Fund

What the Fund Covers

This fund is intended to cover the cost of physician prescribed Genetic and Genomic tests for cancer. Covered tests are genetic tests to determine the risk of developing cancer based on heredity and genomic testing to diagnose cancer, identify mutation, determine treatment and monitor cancer growth. The fund does not cover procedures to get sample tissues, x-rays, MRIs, or scans/lab work outside of genetic and genomic tests. The fund also does not cover direct to consumer tests not prescribed by a physician.

Information About the Tests

Genetics is the study of single genes and their role in the way traits or conditions are passed from one generation to the next. Genetic alterations can be inherited from one’s parents, caused by environmental factors, or occur during natural processes such as cell division, and account for 90 to 95 percent of all cases of cancer. Genetic testing involves looking at the specific inherited changes or mutations in the chromosomes, genes or proteins that humans are born with and their role in the ways traits or conditions are passed from one generation to the next. Genetic testing can also be used to examine mutations that have been acquired in genes after birth.

Cancer is a group of diseases caused by changes in DNA that alter cell behavior, causing uncontrollable growth and malignancy. These abnormalities can take many forms, including DNA mutations, rearrangements, deletions, amplifications, and the addition or removal of chemical marks.

Genomics describes the study of all parts of an organism’s genes. Genomic tumor testing can tell one type of cancer or subtype of the cancer from another, identify the DNA alterations that are driving the growth of a particular tumor, as well as gain a better understanding of the molecular basis of cancer growth, metastasis, and/or drug resistance. Precision medicine uses the specific information about the tumor to help diagnose, select optimal therapies based on the context of the patient’s genetic profile, determine how well a treatment is working or make a prognosis.

Our Health Equity Funds were developed to get assistance to those people and places who need it the most. Developed using the CDC’s Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) and CDC Disease Incidence data, our Health Equity Funds serve people living in 220 counties across the United States that have been identified by the CDC as having the highest social vulnerability scores and are burdened with high rates of chronic diseases. The Health Equity Funds are designed to specifically provide support to eligible patients living in one of the 220 counties covered by the funds, which is verified using the zip code of the patient’s home address. All other eligibility requirements, and fund operation, are the same as our general funds.