The provision under the Affordable Care Act also states the new health insurance plans will cover the screenings without imposing cost-sharing requirements on patients, effective Sept. 23. However, under the regulation, health plans or insurers have the freedom to impose cost-sharing requirements if a precancerous polyp is found and removed during a colonoscopy.
“Colorectal cancer is a largely preventable disease. Screening for colorectal cancer by colonoscopy identifies polyps and allows them to be removed before they turn into cancer, and that is the basis for colonoscopy as both a screening and colorectal cancer prevention tool,” said ASGE President M. Brian Fennerty, MD. “We call upon health plans and insurers to fully eliminate the cost burden of colonoscopy colorectal cancer screening by waiving cost-sharing for the screening portion of colonoscopies in the event that they turn therapeutic and a polyp is removed.”
Read the ASGE’s news release about the ACA provision on colorectal cancer screening (pdf).
Read other coverage about colorectal cancer screening:
– Case Study: Direct Access Colonoscopy Program Increases ASC Colonoscopy Compliance Rate
– Study: Colonoscopy Guidelines for Low- and High-Risk Colon Cancer on Target
