• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Medicare Coverage For Lung Cancer Screening Introduced in House of Representatives

Posted on: Tuesday, 30 May 2006, 15:00 CDT

WASHINGTON, May 30 /PRNewswire/ -- The Lung Cancer Alliance (LCA) today praised Congressman Clay Shaw (R-FL) for his precedent-setting bill to provide Medicare coverage for lung cancer screening. The legislation was introduced in the House of Representatives last week.

"This legislation breaks through the wall of resistance the federal government has built around lung cancer screening," said Laurie Fenton, president of Lung Cancer Alliance.

"Many members of the baby boom generation are at high risk for lung cancer. Without early detection, the majority will be diagnosed at late stage, giving them less than a year to live under conditions that exert tremendous emotional and economic costs on the patients, their families, and the entire healthcare system," she continued.

Lung cancer accounts for nearly one of three cancer deaths, and kills over three times as many men each year as prostate cancer and almost twice as many women as breast cancer.

In a letter soliciting the support of his House colleagues, Congressman Shaw said, "We cannot find a cure for cancer without addressing the need to diagnose and treat lung cancer early."

Only 16% of lung cancer diagnoses occur at the earliest localized stage when it can be successfully treated. Consequently, the 5 year survival rate for lung cancer has never gone above 15%. By contrast, breast cancer and prostate cancers -- which have highly promoted screening methods, such as mammographies and PSA tests -- have 5 year survival rates of 87% and 99%, respectively.

"We know from the statistics on all cancers that a late stage diagnosis is a lethal diagnosis. Lung cancer is a slow-growing insidious cancer, and symptoms like a lingering cough or bloody sputum do not usually appear until it is too late, and even then it is frequently misdiagnosed," Fenton pointed out.

Officially, the federal government has given lung cancer screening an inconclusive rating under the guidelines approved by the U.S. Public Health Services Task Force, meaning there are not enough statistics to prove that screening increases survival.

"However," Fenton argues, "PSA testing for prostate cancer also has an inconclusive rating for the same reason. Why is the federal government and the medical establishment actively promoting PSA screening but not lung cancer screening, when they have the same rating and when lung cancer will kill over three times as many men as prostate cancer?"

Others opposed to lung cancer screening argue that it will lead to too many false positive diagnoses, overexposure to radiation, emotional stress, and unnecessary surgeries.

"These are the exact same arguments we heard 20 years ago from those opposed to mammography screening, and even today some diehards claim the statistics do not justify its use. I would suggest they speak to the many women whose breast cancer was diagnosed early, thanks to a mammogram," Fenton said.

Women need to know that lung cancer is now killing twice as many women as breast cancer; that there is an unexplained increase in the number of non- smoking women being diagnosed with lung cancer; and that the women of the United States have the second highest lung cancer mortality rate in the world.

Fenton concluded, "We must have early lung cancer detection and treatment -- now -- and we are deeply grateful to Congressman Shaw for putting this issue before the Congress."

The bill, HR 5514, includes lung cancer screening as a Medicare benefit for those at high risk of developing the disease, including those with:

* A family history of lung cancer * A significant smoking history * Exposure to toxic agents being monitored by the National Academy of Sciences the Agent Orange Act of 1991 (P.L. 102-4), the Persian Gulf War Veterans Act (P.L. 105-277), and the Veterans Program Enhancement Act (P.L. 105-368) * A significant exposure to radon, asbestos, beryllium, uranium, second hand smoke and other known carcinogens * Previous lung disease

Congressman Shaw noted that the legislation was endorsed by the Lung Cancer Alliance.

The Lung Cancer Alliance (http://www.lungcanceralliance.org/) is the only national non-profit organization solely dedicated to patient support and advocacy for people living with lung cancer and those at risk for the disease. In January 2006, LCA issued the first-ever Report Card on Lung Cancer, an assessment of progress being made in the battle against this lethal disease. The majority of grades received were failing.

Lung Cancer Alliance

CONTACT: Kay Cofrancesco of the Lung Cancer Alliance, +1-202-463-2080,kcofrancesco@lungcanceralliance.org

Web site: http://www.lungcanceralliance.org/

Source: PRNewswire

More News in this Category