Policy brief
From the January ACP-ASIM Observer, copyright © 2003 by the American College of Physicians-American Society of Internal Medicine.
ACP-ASIM urges the Blues to cover screening colonoscopy
The College asked the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association to support coverage of screening colonoscopy by its member health plans.
In a Nov. 14 letter, C. Anderson Hedberg, FACP, Chair of the College's Medical Service Committee, sent the Blues a copy of a Board of Governors resolution calling for third-party coverage of screening colonoscopy. He also sent the most recent U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendations on colorectal cancer screening, which includes colonoscopy as a screening option.
The letter is available online.
For more on the growing shift to colonoscopy for colorectal cancer screening, see "Colonoscopy screening gains momentum, but problems remain," in the September 2002 ACP-ASIM Observer online.
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