Guardant Health said Carelon Healthcare Services will cover its Guardant Shield blood-based colorectal cancer screening test effective Nov. 15. The update is expected to expand totally covered lives for the Shield test to about 90 million patients, covering people age 45 and older at average risk. Shield uses methylation partitioning to detect colorectal cancer-associated alterations in cell-free DNA, and the company said the test was earlier included in American Cancer Society guidance. For commercial diagnostics, benefit coverage is often the gating step that converts clinical utility into scalable adoption. The Carelon policy change broadens access through a large specialty benefits manager network, supporting Guardant’s push beyond oncology diagnostics into routine screening.