We recently requested that payers (healthcare insurance companies) expeditiously update their lung cancer screening (LCS) coverage policies in accordance with the recently updated United States Preventive Services (USPSTF) guidelines.

In concert with other key stakeholders, letters were sent to the top five national private insurance companies—Aetna, Anthem, Cigna, Health Care Services Corporation, and United Healthcare. We are pleased to share that Aetna is the first to respond they are updating their clinical policy (Bulletin 0380) and should have a revised preventive coverage policy published publicly by mid-May.

Lung cancer continues to be the deadliest of all the cancers and given the magnitude of the USPSTF recommendation, we strongly urged insurers to revise their LCS coverage policies to reflect the USPSTF grade B recommendation expanding annual lung cancer screening to a start age of 50 years and smoking eligibility to 20-pack years. The expanded criteria would nearly double screening eligibility and with wider screening use could generally save 30-60,000 lives annually.

There should be no out-of-pocket costs to patients as defined by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 requiring most commercial insurers to cover preventive services when designated with a grade “A” or “B” rating by the USPSTF. However, it is important to note that payers are given a grace period of up to one year from the start of the next plan year to update their coverage policies with the USPSTF screening criteria.

We remain dedicated to saving lives through expanded screening access for those at risk and vulnerable to lung cancer. To learn more about screening and whether you meet the eligibility criteria, please visit our website or call our HelpLine at 1-800-298-2436. Low-dose CT screening is a life-saving benefit for early detection and treatment, which is why we have made lung cancer screening central to our vision of doubling survival by 2025. Our efforts to instill responsible screening and care in a growing network of dedicated community hospitals across the country remains our highest priority.