Health News
- Former Smokers Get Newly Funded Scan For Lung Cancer And Encourage Others To Do The Same, After Finding Cancer In Time
The number of smokers choosing to get low-dose CT scans to see if they have lung cancer is steadily increasing, especially since this screening was recently approved for payment by Medicare, Grace Schneider reports for The Courier-Journal. Janet Overman...
- Lung Cancer Gets Much Less Research Funding Than Other Cancers, But Is Deadlier, Especially In Kentucky
Lung cancer takes more lives annually than breast, prostate, and colon cancers combined, but the disease "generally doesn't get the public attention or research dollars in proportion to its lethality," Arielle Densen, co-founder of Lung Cancer Free...
- Mcconnell Seeks 'timely And Fair Review' Of Plan For Medicare Coverage Of Ct Scans For Those At High Risk For Lung Cancer
U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell asked Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Marilyn Tavenner to "give a timely and fair review to determine whether low-dose computerized tomography (CT) scans should be covered by Medicare for patients...
- Low-dose Ct Scans Find Lung Cancer Before X-rays, Save Lives
Low-dose computed tomography, commonly known as CT scans, are reducing lung-cancer deaths by finding the cancer early before it spreads to other parts of the body, UK HealthCare reports. Used as a screening tool, the American College of Radiology says CT...
- 'faces Of Lung Cancer' Photo Exhibit At Markey Cancer Center Is Meant To Spread Awareness About Disease And Its Prevention
Lung cancer survivor Juanita Meade"Faces of Lung Cancer," a photo exhibit with portraits and inspirational messages from nine lung cancer survivors in Kentucky, is on display at the University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center on the 1st floor atrium of...
Health News
Medicare to pay for CT scans of people at high risk of lung cancer
Medicare will now pay for low-dose CT scans for people at high risk of getting lung cancer, a change welcomed by officials in Kentucky, which leads the nation in lung cancer and deaths from it.
"This is an important new Medicare preventive benefit since lung cancer is the third most common cancer and the leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States," Dr. Patrick Conway, chief medical officer for the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said in a press release.
Lung cancer is especially deadly because it doesn't cause symptoms until it's too late, killing nearly 160,000 people a year, according to the American Cancer Society.
This new preventive coverage will allow Medicare to pay for a once-a-year, low-dose CT exam for people aged 55-77 who are either current smokers, have quit smoking within the last 15 years or who have smoked at least a pack a day for 30 years, or the equivalent and have a written order from a doctor, reports Maggie Fox of NBC News.
Some doctors question how many people will benefit from the test, which costs $250 to $300, and have voiced concerns that it doesn't always produce clear results, causing patients to endure further testing than might turn out to have been unnecessary. Federal officials disagree, and experts say it will prevent as many 20 percent of U.S. deaths from lung cancer, "making it akin to mammograms and colonoscopies in terms of saving lives," Fox reports.
Lung cancer is especially deadly because it doesn't cause symptoms until it's too late, killing nearly 160,000 people a year, according to the American Cancer Society.
This new preventive coverage will allow Medicare to pay for a once-a-year, low-dose CT exam for people aged 55-77 who are either current smokers, have quit smoking within the last 15 years or who have smoked at least a pack a day for 30 years, or the equivalent and have a written order from a doctor, reports Maggie Fox of NBC News.
Some doctors question how many people will benefit from the test, which costs $250 to $300, and have voiced concerns that it doesn't always produce clear results, causing patients to endure further testing than might turn out to have been unnecessary. Federal officials disagree, and experts say it will prevent as many 20 percent of U.S. deaths from lung cancer, "making it akin to mammograms and colonoscopies in terms of saving lives," Fox reports.
- Former Smokers Get Newly Funded Scan For Lung Cancer And Encourage Others To Do The Same, After Finding Cancer In Time
The number of smokers choosing to get low-dose CT scans to see if they have lung cancer is steadily increasing, especially since this screening was recently approved for payment by Medicare, Grace Schneider reports for The Courier-Journal. Janet Overman...
- Lung Cancer Gets Much Less Research Funding Than Other Cancers, But Is Deadlier, Especially In Kentucky
Lung cancer takes more lives annually than breast, prostate, and colon cancers combined, but the disease "generally doesn't get the public attention or research dollars in proportion to its lethality," Arielle Densen, co-founder of Lung Cancer Free...
- Mcconnell Seeks 'timely And Fair Review' Of Plan For Medicare Coverage Of Ct Scans For Those At High Risk For Lung Cancer
U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell asked Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Marilyn Tavenner to "give a timely and fair review to determine whether low-dose computerized tomography (CT) scans should be covered by Medicare for patients...
- Low-dose Ct Scans Find Lung Cancer Before X-rays, Save Lives
Low-dose computed tomography, commonly known as CT scans, are reducing lung-cancer deaths by finding the cancer early before it spreads to other parts of the body, UK HealthCare reports. Used as a screening tool, the American College of Radiology says CT...
- 'faces Of Lung Cancer' Photo Exhibit At Markey Cancer Center Is Meant To Spread Awareness About Disease And Its Prevention
Lung cancer survivor Juanita Meade"Faces of Lung Cancer," a photo exhibit with portraits and inspirational messages from nine lung cancer survivors in Kentucky, is on display at the University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center on the 1st floor atrium of...