Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-OH, and Roger Wicker, R-MS, lead sponsors of S. 668, the Removing Barriers to Colorectal Cancer Screening Act, sent a letter to CMS urging them to use their administrative authority to fix the current Medicare screening colonoscopy coinsurance policy that requires the beneficiary to pay the coinsurance when the screening becomes therapeutic. The senators also urged the agency to not implement their proposal to require physicians to educate beneficiaries before their screening colonoscopy that the patient could be responsible for the coinsurance should a polyp be found and removed. AGA also adamantly opposed this CMS proposal and thanks the nearly 360 AGA members who weighed in with the agency.
AGA continues to work with Congress to try and find a path for passing this legislation this year and fixing this problem for Medicare beneficiaries since it deters them from getting life-saving screenings.
