(TNS) — Waiting until age 50 for a colorectral cancer screening could have cost Anna Payne her life.
She was diagnosed in 2021 at 34 with Stage 4 colon cancer that had gone undetected up until that time. At Stage 4, she was told there is only a 14% chance that a person will live five years after being diagnosed. These days, Payne’s life revolves around having chemotherapy treatments every two weeks and scans every three months.
“I’m still hoping that I beat that statistic,” Payne said at a Capitol news conference on Tuesday. “Finding it early is paramount to survival.”
She is supporting legislation that would require insurance companies to lower the age at which they cover colonoscopy costs to 45. It also would prevent insurers from requiring prior authorization or advance notice for a colorectal cancer screening which can be a barrier that prevents people from having this procedure done.
What’s the law now? A state law dictates health insurance policies cover routine colorectal cancer screening starting at age 50, based on American Cancer Society standards published in 2008. Multiple other states have since updated their law to reflect the society’s guidelines from 2018 that lowered the age to 45.
Why it’s needed? The American Cancer Society and a number of medical organizations recommended lowering the age of regular screenings to age 45 as colon cancer is on the rise among young people. The American Cancer Society identifies this type of cancer as the No. 1 cancer killer in men under age 50 and the No. 2, behind breast cancer, for women under that age.
Over 150,000 people in the United State last year were diagnosed with this form of cancer, said Dr. Ben Abella, an emergency room physician at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He called the colorectal cancer screening “one of the great success stories of modern medicine” in saving lives from early colorectal cancer.
What people said: Kim Hall Jackson, who spent a year going through chemotherapy and radiation after being diagnosed with colon cancer at 45, said she is now an advocate for colorectal cancer screening “especially in the African American community where the rates are even higher.”
She said a lot of stigma and rumors and mistruths about “what happens when they think that somebody’s back there while you sleep. In. hindsight, pun intended, they are trying to save your life.”
Rep. Tarik Khan, D-Philadelphia, who posted footage of his colonoscopy on social media, said, “it didn’t hurt. The prep was actually not bad. It was like I had ginger ale and Gatorade and jello. It really wasn’t bad at all.” He along with Democratic Reps. Pat Gallagher of Philadelphia and Perry Warren of Bucks County are sponsoring the legislation to amend the Insurance Company Law and reduce the age when screenings are covered to 45.
Payne added that detecting colorectal cancer is paramount to survival. “When it’s found early, it is one of the most treatable cancers,” she said. “By 2030, researchers predict that colon cancer will be the leading cause of cancer deaths in people ages 20 to 49.”
Thoughts from the insurance industry: Jonathan Greer, president and CEO of the Insurance Federation of Pennsylvania, said health insurance policies are “living documents” that change coverage as science and medicine changes. With that being the case, he said, “I’m not sure there’s a need to mandate the coverage” as that coverage may already be provided.
What else is happening: The lawmakers also proposed a resolution to recognize March as Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month to promote awareness and encourage people to get screened.
