UnitedHealthcare said it will cover Guardant Health’s Guardant Shield multicancer screening test for colorectal cancer as a first-line screening assay, expanding access for average-risk patients. The plan covers adults ages 45 to 75 who meet eligibility criteria and have not been screened during the recommended interval, and it also provides coverage criteria for ages 76 to 85. The coverage requires agreement to follow up with colonoscopy if results are abnormal. Leerink analysts cited the decision as precedent-setting, noting it could accelerate contracting and average selling price momentum for Guardant given UnitedHealthcare’s large commercial footprint. For the industry, the decision signals payor willingness to reimburse blood-based CRC screening aligned with FDA labeling, which could shift demand from second-line or refusal-based use cases toward earlier lines of prevention.