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More
than 40 lawmakers sign letter asking CMS to
reverse decision on Medicare Coverage for
Virtual Colonoscopies
[Mar 17, 2009] More than 40 members of
Congress have signed a letter asking
CMS
to reverse its tentative
decision
to end Medicare coverage for virtual
colonoscopies, or CT colonographies,
CQ HealthBeat reports.
CMS announced the decision on Feb. 11 based
on a lack of evidence that virtual
colonoscopies result in improved health for
Medicare beneficiaries who do not have
symptoms of and have average risk for colon
cancer.
CMS requested public comments on the
decision.
The letter -- dated March 13 and signed by
Reps. Kay Granger (R-Texas) and Patrick
Kennedy (D-R.I.), among other lawmakers --
maintains that Medicare coverage for virtual
colonoscopies could increase screening rates
for colon cancer.
According to the letter, screening rates for
colon cancer increased by 70% at
National
Naval Medical Center after the
center added virtual colonoscopies as an
option for patients.
Medicare
coverage of virtual colonoscopies as a
"minimally invasive screening test for colon
cancer would not just encourage more
patients to undergo screening, but it would
potentially close or eliminate the gap in
colorectal cancer screening between whites
and minority populations," according to the
letter.
CMS spokesperson Don McLeod said that the
agency takes "all such letters very
seriously" and plans to "respond to the
members promptly" (Kim,
CQ
HealthBeat, 3/16).
Letter to the Editor
A Feb. 28
New York
Times
editorial
praised the tentative decision by CMS, but
agency officials should "reconsider their
initial coverage denial for a screening tool
that could contribute to saving both lives
and health care dollars," Andrew Spiegel,
CEO of the
Colon Cancer
Alliance; Ilyse Schuman, managing
director of the
Medical
Imaging and Technology Alliance;
and James Thrall, chair of the
American
College of Radiology Board of
Chancellors, write in a
Times letter to the
editor.
According to the authors, a clinical trial conducted in 2007 by
the
American
College of Radiology Imaging Network
involving more than 2,600 patients
"demonstrated the clinical efficacy" of
virtual colonoscopies and the "potential to
enhance colon cancer screening compliance,"
and "it's been shown that virtual
colonoscopy is less than half the cost of
the optical test."
They add, "With less than half of all
Americans 50 and older receiving colon
cancer screening, Medicare's decision to
deny the elderly access to virtual
colonoscopy would maintain needless
screening barriers that research proves
disproportionately affect nonwhite and
low-income Americans" (Spiegel et al.,
New York
Times, 3/14).
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