Lucid Diagnostics Inc. (Nasdaq: LUCD) reported financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2026, and provided a business update. The company announced that Medicare is now paying for the EsoGuard Esophageal DNA Test nationwide, marking the first time the test has been fully reimbursed by the program. The company began submitting claims in late September after meeting with medical directors at Novitas, the Medicare Administrative Contractor with jurisdiction over its Texas laboratory.
According to the filing, Lucid has consistently received payments on these claims at the established Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule rate of $1,938.01 per test. The coverage is being processed through claim-by-claim adjudication, independent of a pending MolDX Local Coverage Determination (LCD) reconsideration. The company stated it held a formal meeting with CMS leadership regarding the LCD reconsideration and expects the draft LCD to be published as an administrative backlog clears.
Commercial efforts have been repositioned to expand EsoGuard testing among at-risk Medicare beneficiaries, who represent approximately half of the patients recommended for esophageal precancer testing by professional society guidelines. Lucid also announced the launch of its first two U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) programs and continued to expand commercial coverage through the Concert EsoGuard coverage policy, with five client health plans expected to formally adopt it by year-end.
For the third quarter of 2026, EsoGuard related revenues were $1.2 million. The company performed 2,871 EsoGuard tests during the period, with October recording a record month of more than 1,800 tests. Since launch, more than 50,000 EsoGuard tests have been performed. Financial results for the quarter included operating expenses of approximately $13.5 million and a GAAP net loss of approximately $6.7 million, or $(0.03) per common share.
Lucid reported cash and cash equivalents of $18.0 million as of September 30, 2026. Subsequent to the quarter end, the company closed a $15.0 million Series C Convertible Preferred Stock financing. The company also announced the publication of an 11,991-patient real-world EsoGuard study, the largest peer-reviewed study of nonendoscopic esophageal precancer testing to date. Additionally, the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) released draft Barrett’s esophagus guidelines naming EsoGuard and EsoCheck as an alternative to endoscopy with high certainty of evidence.
