Screening at 45: Insurance Companies Adopt Guidelines
On May 18, 2021, the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) lowered the recommended colorectal cancer screening age for average-risk adults from 50 to 45 years old. The change made 20 million additional people eligible for preventive colorectal cancer screenings, most at no cost through insurance.
Jennifer Ziemer was one of them.
“My mother was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer in March 2021,” Jennifer said. “I started looking at getting a colonoscopy a few months later.”
But when Jennifer called her major insurance company, they told her they wouldn’t cover her preventive screening, even with her mother’s health history.