Study recommends coverage of lung cancer screening

Having insurance companies cover lung cancer screenings for high-risk patients could prevent thousands of deaths every year at a low cost, according to a new study the policy journal Health Affairs is calling a "first-of-its-kind actuarial study."

The study examined the costs and benefits of providing lung cancer screenings to smokers and long-term former smokers between the ages of 50 and 64. Assuming about 9 million people a year would take advantage of the benefit if it was offered, the model found that the screening would cost insurance companies about $247 per member tested annually — less than $1 per commercially insured member per month.

The study also found that 130,000 under the age of 65 would still be alive today if the screening coverage had been in place over the past 15 years. Those figures compare favorably to the costs and benefits of screening for cervical and breast cancer and are comparable to the cost per life-year saved of screening for colorectal cancer.

"These results demonstrate the cost efficiency of offering this benefit to people who are at high risk of lung cancer," lead author Bruce Pyenson said in a statement. "The evidence of the value of advanced screening technology for lung cancer has accumulated to the point where we can show very strong cost-effectiveness for the commercial population. We can also jump the needle on cancer mortality for the first time in years, and do so in a cost-effective manner."

The results confirm research by the National Cancer Institute, which last year published results showing that screening with computed tomography — CT scans — can reduce the risk of dying from lung cancer.

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