Medicare won't cover 'virtual colonoscopy'
5/13/2009
WASHINGTON (AP) — Medicare won't pay for the so-called virtual colonoscopy procedure, concluding Tuesday that there's inadequate evidence to support the cheaper, less intrusive alternative to the dreaded colonoscopy.
But in a decision posted on its Web site, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said that the test does not qualify for Medicare coverage. The memo noted that the procedure is performed on people without symptoms and cannot, in itself, rid a patient of precancerous growths, like a regular colonoscopy can.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force opted last fall not to give its stamp of approval to the virtual colonoscopy, citing the risk of radiation among other factors. Medicare said it took that decision into account in reaching Tuesday's determination, which is final