Wednesday, October 28, 2020

USPSTF Releases Draft New Report on Colorectal Screening: Comment to November 23

On October 16, 2020, CMS released a proposed NCD which would allow FDA-approved colorectal cancer screening tests by liquid biopsy on a rolling basis, if they meet certain pre-defined CMS criteria (here).

On October 27, 2020, USPSTF released an updated draft position on its recommendations for colorectal cancer screening.   See website here.   Comments must be submitted by November 23.   (After comments, a final report may take 6-12 months).   New USPSTF guidelines are binding on commercial payers under the ACA, after a one-to-two year roll-in period.

USPSTF recommends (among other tests, like colonoscopy) the Cologuard test EITHER at 1- or 3-year intervals.  I believe it recommends "either" because it wants to support annual testing but does not want to disallow 3-year testing as a standard of care at this time.


Regarding age, USPSTF recommends screening age 50-75 ("A") and 45-49 ("B") but only selective use of screening age 76-85 ("C").   


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See an archival cloud copy of the draft report here.