STOP MEDICARE COLONOSCOPY CUTS

Medicare bureaucrats have finalized plans to cut doctors’ reimbursement for colonoscopy starting January 2016. The stakes are high for Medicare patients and public health.  

TAKE ACTION: The American College of Gastroenterology is fighting on behalf of Medicare beneficiaries and physicians on the front lines of screening and prevention for colorectal cancer.

Sign this petition to add your voice to demand that Congress not allow cuts to colonoscopy and help stop Medicare bureaucrats in their tracks.

STOP MEDICARE COLONOSCOPY CUTS


Medicare Patients: Voice your concerns against the finalized cuts that put access to colorectal screening and prevention at risk.

Medicare bureaucrats have finalized plans to cut doctors’ reimbursement for colonoscopy starting January 2016. The stakes are high for Medicare patients and public health.

Here’s why this matters to Medicare and what you can do:

Medicare patients are at high risk for colorectal cancer because of age
• Age is a major risk factor for colorectal cancer and Medicare beneficiaries are at higher risk based on age

Colorectal cancer hits Medicare population harder
• Medicare beneficiaries account for two-thirds of all new cases of colorectal cancer each year according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC)

Colorectal screening lags behind national targets for Medicare – cuts could make it worse
• The Medicare-age population has screening rates far below national targets – only 64% according to the American Cancer Society* and far below the 80% target many public health groups have set for the year 2018

Colorectal cancer prevention by colonoscopy is a public health success story
• This country is making progress against colorectal cancer in recent years – new cases are down, deaths are down overall. According to the American Cancer Society, colorectal cancer incidence rates in the United States have dropped over 30% over the past decade thanks to colonoscopy

Medicare needs more colorectal cancer screening, not less
• More needs to be done to increase the use of screening tests by Medicare beneficiaries to advance the fight against the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States


TAKE ACTION: The American College of Gastroenterology is fighting on behalf of Medicare beneficiaries and physicians on the front lines of screening and prevention for colorectal cancer.

Sign this petition to add your voice to demand that Congress not allow cuts to colonoscopy and help stop Medicare bureaucrats in their tracks. 

*Source: American Cancer Society: “Colorectal Cancer Fact & Figures 2014-016” According to ACS, “the large declines over the past decade have largely been attributed to the detection and removal of precancerous polyps as a result of increased colorectal cancer screening.”*

Update #28 years ago
CMS has decided to finalize these cuts beginning 2016! Please call all your Members of Congress and urge them to pass the SCREEN Act (S.1079/H.R.2035) this year. You can reach them via U.S. Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121. This bill not only improves patient access to colorectal cancer screening services, it is the only bill currently before the U.S. Congress that implements fair Medicare reimbursement for providers participating in a colon cancer screening quality improvement initiative
Update #18 years ago
Thank you Sens. Ben Cardin (D-MD), Bill Cassidy, MD (R-LA), and Reps. Donald Payne Jr. (D-NJ), Leonard Lance (R-NJ) for asking colleagues to join them in expressing concern over cuts to colonoscopy. We need your help now! www.senate.gov/senators/contact/. Email: “I urge you to sign the Sens. Cardin and Cassidy “Dear Colleague” letter on cuts to colonoscopy." www.house.gov/representatives/. Email: “I urge you to sign the Reps. Payne Jr. and Lance “Dear Colleague” letter on cuts to colonoscopy.”
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