If you associate the month of March with pleasant things, such as spring break, here’s something else to put on your radar screen that's not so pleasant but worth thinking about: March is National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month.
Most folks over 50 who see a doctor at least once a year have probably been urged to get a colonoscopy to screen for colorectal cancer, the third most common cancer found in both men and women.
But with 49,250 projected deaths from colorectal, or colon, cancer last year, clearly many patients aren’t following through. Only half of all U.S. adults 50 and older have had a colonoscopy, according to the American Cancer Society.
And it’s not always just a matter of being squeamish. It’s often a matter of cost, not only for those who are uninsured but sometimes for people who have health insurance.
Dr. Robert Parker, medical director of Health Alliance Medical Plans, says whether a patient faces out-of-pocket expense for a colonoscopy depends on how the doctor codes the procedure for billing.
Wellness screenings, for example, would be covered entirely as a wellness benefit under most Health Alliance plans. But if the doctor finds and removes polyps, the procedure would likely be coded as a surgery for which the patient bears some out-of-pocket responsibility, he said.
Why get screened? Because this is one cancer that can often be prevented if polyps in the colon are found and removed before they become cancerous.
“The secret to surviving colon cancer is early detection and removal, and that’s really done by colonoscopy,” said Peter Kale, an advanced practice nurse at Carle Clinic.
In determining a patient’s risk for colon cancer, Kale said the first thing he asks is whether there is a family history of colon cancer or polyps.
Other risk factors are being overweight or obese, inactivity, eating a lot of red and processed meats and smoking. More than 90 percent of cases are found in people 50 and older.
Kale says he reassures patients with qualms about colonoscopy that the preparation is much easier than it used to be, and they won’t feel discomfort during the procedure.
“I tell them, it’s the best nap in my life,” he adds.
 

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