Starting in 2025, it will be easier to get a colorectal cancer screening covered by insurance in Vermont.
Right now, state law only requires health insurance to cover screening for people 50 and older and who are considered at high risk for the disease due to family history or previously having colorectal cancer or related symptoms.
But as of Jan. 1, Vermont will mandate that health insurance coverage align with the most recent colorectal cancer screening guidelines from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. The task force recommends screening for adults 45 and older who are at average risk.
The task force also explicitly encourages clinicians to pay special attention to Black communities, who disproportionately get diagnosed with and die from colorectal cancer. Studies suggest this inequity is due to issues accessing screening and treatment.
Black people experiencing higher rates of the disease was among the arguments for expanding screening made by the bill’s lead sponsor, Montpelier state Rep. Kate McCann.
McCann, who is white, also said her advocacy for the legislation was deeply personal.
“In 2022, just before I was elected for the first time … I was diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer,” McCann said. She was 48 at the time.
During her first year in office, McCann underwent treatment — including two surgeries she said she only got after seeking out a second opinion. In the meantime, she said she paid as much attention as possible to how the legislative process worked.
Then in late 2023, McCann was given the good news she was tumor- and cancer-free. A few months later, in February 2024, she introduced her colorectal cancer screening bill to the House Committee on Health Care.
“I was relentless,” she said. “[Chair] Lori Houghton was very patient with me, as I continued to ask, ‘Are you going to take up this bill? Are you going to take up my bill? Are you going to take up my bill?’”
McCann said telling and retelling her story to colleagues, and pouring that passion into the legislative process, played a role in getting the bill through the Statehouse.
“All of our personal stories play a role, and whether it's my personal experience or whether I'm bringing the experience of a constituent, I think we just need to keep telling the stories, and that's how we get things done,” she said.
While it was still making its way through the Vermont Statehouse, the legislation received strong support from the Vermont Medical Society.
In written testimony earlier this year, the medical society pointed out state health department data that shows colorectal cancer is the third-most diagnosed cancer and the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in Vermont.
“Colorectal cancer is also a highly preventable and treatable form of cancer,” Vermont Medical Society wrote in its testimony, adding that screening can provide early detection and prevention of the disease.
McCann, who is a Democrat, noted that screening not only saves lives, but also money. And she said that’s something state lawmakers across the political spectrum can get behind as Vermont experiences a health care affordability crisis.
“If you catch cancer early enough, it's going to — there's going to be less of a cost on the medical system than there would be if you end up like myself, with Stage IV colon cancer, without knowing it,” McCann said. “Health care is one of those places where we can reach across the aisle and all parties can agree.”
MVP Health Care said in a statement to lawmakers that under the federal Affordable Care Act, it was already required to cover colorectal cancer screening for an expanded group of adults as recommended by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.
MVP’s coverage on Vermont Health Connect for colorectal cancer screening, however, was in line with the older version of state law, and applied only to high-risk patients. Now that the new law is taking effect, MVP told Vermont Public it will comply with the changes.
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