Medicare CT Lung Cancer Screening Coverage A Victory for Patients

Washington, DC (Feb. 5, 2015) – Medicare’s final decision to cover low-dose computed tomography (CT) lung cancer screening gives seniors at high-risk for the disease access to care that can save more lives than any cancer screening test in history. “Medicare got this right. Screening coverage will help save thousands of seniors each year from the nation’s leading cancer killer. Screening programs can also help lower smoking rates. The process may even lead to better understanding of addiction as well as lung cancer in those who have never smoked,” said Laurie Fenton Ambrose, president and chief executive officer of the Lung Cancer Alliance (LCA). CT lung cancer screening is the first and only cost-effective test proven to significantly reduce lung cancer deaths. More than 220,000 people will be diagnosed with lung cancer this year. Nearly 160,000 people will die from the disease - more than breast, colon and prostate cancers combined. This proven test, and the access to it that Medicare coverage allows, is a game changer in the battle against lung cancer. “This is a great day for those at high-risk for lung cancer and their families. Now, we can save tens of thousands of people each year from this terrible disease that now kills more women in wealthy countries than breast cancer,” said Douglas E. Wood, M.D., past president of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will cover t...
Source: American College of Radiology - Category: Radiology Source Type: news