I don’t typically work with military serviceman when it comes to advocating and helping clients navigate the healthcare systems. But on occasion I may help someone who later tells me that they were in the military but I would like my navigator services and it’s great to know that Tricare is lower the age that men and women can get screened to colon cancer. I saw this article while researching something and thought it would be a great article for Memorial Day.
Tricare beneficiaries at average risk for colorectal cancer can now receive covered screening exams and lab tests five years sooner, at age 45, following a recent coverage change.
The change in coverage comes as people younger than 50 are getting colon cancer more often, according to the American Cancer Society. The incidence of colorectal cancer in the U.S. rose steadily from 2011 to 2020 in people younger than 50, increasing at a rate of 2% per year. Cases of advanced colon cancer in patients under 50 grew even faster during that time, at about 3% per year. However, that decline has flattened in recent years, it said, likely because screenings reached “saturation” while younger people’s rates went up. By 2019, 20% of colon cancer cases were in people 54 years or younger, an increase from 11% in 1995.
Tricare considers patients to be “average risk” if they don’t have:
Symptoms or other signs of colon cancer
A history of colon cancer or “certain types of polyps” (growths on the inside lining of the colon)
One first-degree relative (parents, siblings, children) or multiple second-degree relatives (grandparents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews) with colorectal cancer or certain polyps
A history of inflammatory bowel disease
A hereditary colorectal cancer syndrome such as familial adenomatous polyposis or Lynch syndrome
A past radiation cancer treatment to the belly
To learn more about Tricare new colorectal cancer screening policy visit https://www.military.com/benefits/tricare
Have a Happy Memorial Day.
Joydrop Wellness & Oncology 