The Removing Barriers to Colorectal Cancer Screening Act (HR 1220 and S 624) was introduced in the House and Senate, according to an AGA eDigest report. Here are five things to know about the legislation.
1. The legislation aims to eliminate co-insurance for Medicare patients undergoing a screening colonoscopy that becomes therapeutic due to the presence of polyps that must be removed.
2. Representatives Charlie Dent (R-Pa.) and Donald Payne Jr. (D-N.J.) introduced HR 1220.
3. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Ben Cardin (R-Md.), and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) introduced S 624.
4. This is the first year that the Senate version of the bill has had significant bipartisan support.
5. "AGA applauds the sponsors of this legislation for their leadership in introducing the Removing Barriers to CRC Screening Act and for their tireless efforts in increasing awareness as to the importance of screening," said John I. Allen, MD, MBA, president of the AGA Institute, according to the report.