In recognition that colorectal screenings save lives, the Affordable Care Act now requires all new health plans to cover the entire cost of screening colonoscopies, with no co-pay, for people over the age of 50.  This includes colonoscopy, sigmoidoscopy, or fecal occult blood tests. Most health plans will also cover the removal of polyps found during screenings.

Colorectal cancer is one of the most common cancers in men and women each year, with an estimated 143,000 diagnosed and more than 52,000 deaths in 2012. While some people find colorectal screenings unpleasant, a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine in February 2012 confirms that screening colonoscopies prevent deaths.

Talk to your doctor to decide what screening test is best for you. The physicians at Atlantic Digestive Specialists have been performing colorectal cancer screenings for more than 30 years, and have helped prevent colon cancer in countless patients. If you would like to schedule a screening colonoscopy exam, or have questions, please call any of our three offices in Portsmouth, Somersworth, and Hampton, NH at 603-692-2228and we will be happy to assist you.

“If everyone got regular colonoscopies, then no one would die of colon cancer” begins an article in the Boston Globe written by Joan Wickersham. To read the full story about colonoscopy screenings, click this link “A needed test that no one wants to get”.