Company joins forces with Genomic Answers for Children’s Health Alliance to clarify genomic sequencing as covered under Medicaid’s “Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment Services”
Baylor Genetics, a clinical diagnostic laboratory at the forefront of genetic testing, announced its support for the Genomic Answers for Children’s Health Act. This legislation, introduced in the House of Representatives with bipartisan support, aims to improve access to genomic sequencing by clarifying that such testing is covered under Medicaid’s “Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment Services” for children meeting certain clinical criteria. The legislation is aligned with clinical guidelines from The American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG), The National Society of Genetic Counselors (NSGC), and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), whose recently updated guidance recommends genome and exome sequencing as first-tier tests.
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“Children with rare and undiagnosed diseases often wait months or years for a diagnosis, delaying treatment and adding emotional and financial strain for families,” said Kengo Takishima, Chairman and CEO of Baylor Genetics. “We support this legislation as a vital step in ensuring all children can benefit from life-changing genomic insights. At Baylor Genetics, we remain a committed healthcare partner advocating for equitable access, improving payer coverage and reducing long-term costs, and accelerating time-to-diagnosis to ensure precision diagnostics reach the children and families who need them most.”
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Additionally, the legislation specifies that Medicaid programs would need to add a diagnosis-related group (DRG) add-on payment for inpatient sequencing services, which is a critical component of ensuring access to genomic sequencing in the inpatient setting. Baylor Genetics offers Rapid Whole Genome Sequencing (rWGS) and Rapid Whole Exome Sequencing (rWES) tests with results in five days*, delivering fast answers that can inform timely inpatient care.
The Genomic Answers for Children’s Health (GACH) Alliance is an advocacy alliance of 28 laboratories, research institutions, rare disease advocacy groups, children’s hospitals, and health systems. The GACH Alliance advocates for better insurance coverage of genomic sequencing. Currently, not all states cover genomic sequencing, and not all states cover it for Medicaid beneficiaries 21 years of age or younger – which limits access to sequencing, and potential answers, based on where a child and their family lives.
“Based on my experience as a pediatric neurologist who cares for many children with neurogenetic disorders in my clinic, I have seen that the faster these children have answers about their neurogenetic conditions, the faster they can receive treatment, which is often lifechanging or lifesaving,” Peter B. Kang, MD, FCNS, Past President, Child Neurology Society.
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Source- GlobeNewswire
