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GOVERNMENT & MEDICINESenate panel approves new benefit mandate for private plansInsurers would have to cover colon cancer screenings, which gastroenterologists said would improve the chances of early detection.By Amy Snow Landa, AMNews staff. July 29, 2002. Washington -- A Senate committee recently approved legislation that would require private health plans to cover colorectal cancer screenings, but insurers say they already cover such tests and that a new benefit mandate is unnecessary. The Eliminate Colorectal Cancer Act would mandate that health plans cover routine screenings for patients 50 and older and those at high risk for developing the disease. The measure was approved by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee by a vote of 16-5. Given the current concern over rising health care costs and double-digit premium increases, lawmakers' level of interest in this new benefit mandate has surprised some observers. It takes a great deal of muscle to get a new benefit mandate through Congress: Witness the ongoing struggle to expand the 1996 mental health parity law. The legislation has majority support in both houses of Congress but has not yet been adopted. The last time Congress passed a federal benefit mandate for private plans was in 1998, when it required those that cover mastectomy to also cover reconstructive breast surgery. Heightened public awareness helps the effort. Supporters of the bill are trying to capitalize on recent attention paid to the importance of colorectal cancer screenings for at-risk patients. President Bush, 56, underwent a well-publicized colonoscopy in June, and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force in July issued its strongest ever recommendation for colorectal cancer screening. Rather than simply "recommending" the tests, as it did in 1996, the task force now "strongly recommends" screening for those 50 and older based on new studies that clearly show the effectiveness of various screening methods. [...] Full text of AMNews content is available to AMA members and paid subscribers.
Copyright 2002 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
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