Health plans must now pay for biomarker tests that guide cancer and Alzheimer’s care

A biomarker is a measurable sign in your blood, tissue or genes that shows a disease is there or which treatment is likely to work; biomarker testing matches a tumor to a drug before it is prescribed. The law requires health plans regulated by the Mississippi Insurance Department and Medicaid to cover the tests for diagnosis, treatment, management or monitoring, according to the bill summary the Wire read. The Mississippi Independent reported it also covers the State and School Employees’ Health Insurance Plan. Coverage is required when the evidence supports the test, such as FDA labeling, Medicare coverage decisions or national clinical guidelines, according to the summary.

Plans must post their biomarker policies online. If a plan denies a test that meets the law’s evidence standards, it must give a detailed written reason, and plans must post an easy way to request exceptions or appeal. Prior authorization, a plan’s advance approval of a test, must be decided within state time limits, and coverage has to be arranged to avoid repeat biopsies. Medicaid had 60 days from July 1 to add the billing codes.

The bill is named for Jill Eure, who died at 48 in 2025 after a battle with multiple myeloma; her husband, Rep. Casey Eure, represents part of Harrison County, WLOX reported.

Mississippi’s cancer death rate is 23% higher than the national average, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention figures cited by the law firm Bradley. With this law Mississippi became the 23rd state to require the coverage, SuperTalk reported.

The bill moved without a fight the Wire could find: it passed the House, passed the Senate unanimously on March 4, and Gov. Tate Reeves signed it March 16, according to WLOX and the bill history. Supporters said the change removes obstacles to an accurate diagnosis. ‘Biomarker testing can help doctors detect Alzheimer’s earlier and make a more accurate diagnosis,’ Blair Ewing of the Alzheimer’s Association Mississippi Chapter told WLOX.

The Wire’s read: the usual objection to coverage mandates is their cost to insurers and employers, and the Wire found no organized opposition in the reporting it reviewed. Self-insured plans, where a large employer pays claims itself instead of buying insurance, follow federal law rather than state mandates. Workers in those plans may not see the change; that is general insurance law, not something the Wire found in Mississippi reporting on this bill.

The Wire could not find a fiscal note, the Legislature’s own estimate of what a bill will cost. The Wire’s read: for Medicaid and the state employee plan, the state pays for more tests, and for private plans the cost spreads across premiums. The Wire found no Mississippi estimate of the net cost either way.

For a patient, the change is a covered claim instead of an out-of-pocket bill or a skipped test.

If you or a family member is diagnosed with cancer after your plan renews on or after July 1, 2026, ask the oncologist about biomarker testing and expect the plan to cover it when guidelines support it. If a plan says no to a test that meets the evidence standard, it must tell you why in writing, and its appeal route must be posted.

The Wire’s read: a fully insured plan, one where an insurance company pays the claims, through a Mississippi employer, Medicaid or the state employee plan is covered, and a large employer’s self-insured plan may not be.

Plans had to post their policies within 60 days of enactment and must post changes 30 days ahead. The Insurance Department can audit compliance; watch for its first enforcement actions.

The Wire’s read: denials and appeals in the first renewal cycle will show whether the evidence standard is read broadly or narrowly.