Annual Lung Cancer Screening By Medicare

Medicare, the federal health insurance plan for people aged over 65, has announced on 6th February, 2015 that it will cover the annual lung cancer screening for people at higher risk for lung cancer. Dr. Patrick Conway, chief medical officer for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services said that lung cancer screening is covered by Medicare for the first time and the screening is an important preventive measure for the increase in the lung cancer deaths in the country.

Medicare has proposed to pay for annual low-dose CT test for people who currently smoke and those who quit smoking within last 15 years and aged between 55 and 77. Other beneficiaries include people with the history of smoking a pack a day for 30 years and those with the history of tobacco-smoking habit of at least 30 "pack years."

Laurie Fenton Ambrose, president and CEO of the Lung Cancer Alliance said that this effort would save tens of thousands of lives and also a transformative moment for the community.

About 160,000 of people die of lung cancer every year and it is such a killer that it doesn’t show any symptoms until it is too late to treat as per the American Cancer Society. CT scan for lung cancer is recommended once a year for heavy smokers aged over 55. The test is estimated to cost around $250 to $300 per person but early detection and intervention could save 20% of people from death.

It is projected that the Medicare would have to $9 billion for 5 years or about $3 per person for a month for the annual lung cancer screening. Dr. Douglas Wood, past president of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons said that it is a great news for people at high risk and this screening can help in saving many women of wealthy countries who die more of lung cancer than of breast cancer.

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