Cologuard® covered for TRICARE beneficiaries
America’s veterans, military personnel and their families provided access to non-invasive, at-home colon cancer screening option without copay
MADISON, Wis., Oct. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — Exact Sciences Corp. (Nasdaq: EXAS) today announced that Cologuard® is now covered under TRICARE’s preventive services policies for use every three years without patient coinsurance, copayments or deductibles. The update was made after TRICARE’s review of its screening coverage policies to align them with the preventive services coverage mandate of the Affordable Care Act. TRICARE is the health care program of the U.S. Department of Defense, providing benefits to 9.4 million active-duty, reserve and National Guard personnel, veterans and their dependents.
“Cologuard is the ideal patient-friendly colon cancer screening option for America’s active military and veterans to use at-home, ensuring they can efficiently be screened for the most preventable form of cancer,” said Kevin Conroy, chairman and CEO of Exact Sciences. “Ensuring Cologuard is available to those who serve our country and their families with no out-of-pocket cost through TRICARE is a critical step toward increasing colon cancer screening.”
TRICARE’s advisory to Congress stated, “TRICARE will add coverage for additional preventive services in alignment with the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendations…. Collectively these changes also will revise TRICARE colon cancer screening provisions to allow coverage of stool DNA testing (e.g., Cologuard) once every 3 years beginning at the age of 50 for individuals at average risk of colon cancer based on the USPSTF’s most recent recommendations. Coverage is effective June 21, 2016 for all beneficiaries.”
“TRICARE’s decision to cover Cologuard continues the growing trend of support for our non-invasive colon screening option following its A-rating by USPSTF,” Conroy said. “This progress includes coverage for Medicare Advantage beneficiaries without out-of-pocket costs, inclusion in the preeminent quality measures, and coverage by a growing list of commercial insurers.”
About Cologuard
Cologuard was approved by the FDA in August 2014 and results from Exact Sciences’ prospective 90-site, point-in-time, 10,000-patient pivotal trial were published in the New England Journal of Medicine in March 2014. Cologuard is included in the recommendations of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (2016) and the American Cancer Society’s (2014) colorectal cancer screening guidelines. Stool DNA is included in the combined screening guidelines of the American Cancer Society/U.S. Multi-Society Task Force/American College of Radiology (2008), the American College of Gastroenterology guidelines (2009) and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (2016). Cologuard is indicated to screen adults of either sex, 50 years or older, who are at average risk for colorectal cancer. Cologuard is not for everyone and is not a replacement for diagnostic colonoscopy or surveillance colonoscopy in high-risk individuals. False positives and false negatives do occur. Any positive test result should be followed by a diagnostic colonoscopy. Following a negative result, patients should continue participating in a screening program at an interval and with a method appropriate for the individual patient. Cologuard performance when used for repeat testing has not been evaluated or established. For more information about Cologuard, visit www.CologuardTest.com. Rx Only.
About Exact Sciences Corp.
Exact Sciences Corp. is a molecular diagnostics company focused on the early detection and prevention of the deadliest forms of cancer. The company has exclusive intellectual property protecting its non-invasive, molecular screening technology for the detection of colorectal cancer. For more information, please visit the company’s website at www.exactsciences.com, follow Exact Sciences on Twitter@ExactSciences or find Exact Sciences on Facebook.
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