Screening: Insurance and Colorectal Cancer

07.27.10
Publication: New York Times By: Roni Caryn Rabin

The number of Americans being screened for colorectal cancer continues to increase, but the vast majority of the uninsured still do not get screened for this cancer, which is the second leading cause of cancer deaths after lung cancer, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports.

Almost two-thirds of Americans ages 50 to 75, or 62.9 percent, had been screened for the cancer recently, according to 2008 data, up from 51.9 percent in 2002, the C.D.C. reported. But just over one-third of those without health insurance — 35.6 percent — had been screened, the report said.

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