What Is the Medicare Colonoscopy Loophole?

The good news is that the “Removing Barriers to Colorectal Cancer Screening Act” is designed to make access to colonoscopic screening easier for Medicare patients to access, thereby aiding in the early detection and treatment of colon cancer. 

The bad news is that there is a Loophole in the Affordable Healthcare Act. A routine colonoscopy is considered preventive care and is therefore provided to patients without the need for a copay. However, due to the loophole, if polyps are found and removed at the time of the procedure, the procedure is instead labeled therapeutic and Medicare patients are then responsible for paying a co-pay. 

In an article entititled “Medicare’s Colonoscopy Loophole Could Cost Your Patients,” which recently appeared in Outpatient Surgery Magazine, author David Bernard encourages readers to contact their Congressmen and women to request that they do something to remove this loophole. We at AMRI agree and encourage you to do the same. 

Contact information can be found here: http://www.contactingthecongress.org/