Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Medicare To Cover Lung Cancer Screening For Those At Highest Risk
Reuters: U.S. Approves Medicare Coverage For Lung Cancer Screening
U.S. health regulators on Thursday approved Medicare coverage for lung cancer screening by low-dose CT, the first time the government health insurance program for the elderly and disabled will pay for such a program of early detection in an effort to save lives. The decision applies to Medicare beneficiaries aged 55-77 who are current smokers or who quit within the last 15 years, and who racked up at least 30 "pack years." The latter is possible if they smoked one pack a day for 30 years, for instance, two packs a day for 15 or three packs a day for a decade. (2/5)
NBC News: Breath of Fresh Air: Medicare to Cover Lung Cancer Screening
Medicare said Thursday it will pay for lung cancer screening for people at the highest risk — a decision advocates say will save tens of thousands of lives. (Fox, 2/5)
In other Medicare news, the cost of a permanent SGR fix soars higher -
CQ Healthbeat: Cost Of Permanent 'Doc Fix' Surges By $30.5 Billion
The job of moving a permanent fix to Medicare’s oft-criticized physician payment formula before doctors see cuts April 1 just got harder. The price tag of a bipartisan, bicameral proposal to repeal and replace the so-called sustainable growth rate formula, or SGR, increased by $30.5 billion with the addition of another year to the budget window, compared to a projection the Congressional Budget Office released in November. (Attias, 2/5)
