A national campaign to screen Medicare beneficiaries for colorectal cancer -- one of the nation's most preventable cancers and yet, sadly, the number two cancer killer -- was launched today by the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA), the federal agency that administers Medicare, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). President Bush has proclaimed March, 2001, as National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month.

HCFA and the CDC, along with the National Cancer Institute, are targeting people 50 and older in the early detection and prevention effort called Screen for Life. Risk for the disease increases with age. Colorectal cancer strikes men and women with almost equal frequency and often progresses without symptoms. Colorectal cancer is usually curable when discovered early and early diagnosis is possible with regular screenings.

"We want our beneficiaries to know that Medicare covers four types of colorectal cancer screening tests," said Tommy G. Thompson, HHS Secretary. "The good news is that we know we could save thousands of lives a year through screening."

Medicare currently covers:

* a yearly take-home fecal-occult blood test with no co-pays or deductible.

* a flexible sigmoidoscopy every four years. Beneficiaries pay 20% of the Medicare approved amount after the annual Part B deductible;

* a colonoscopy for high risk individuals every two years. Beneficiaries pay about 20% of the Medicare approved amount after the annual Part B deductible;

* a barium enema as an alternative to either the sigmoidoscopy or the colonoscopy.

Beginning in July, Medicare will also cover a screening colonoscopy every 10 years for people not at high risk for colorectal cancer. Risk is greater for those with a history of inflammatory bowel disease or polyps, or a family history of colon or rectal cancer.

The disease, second in cancer deaths only to lung cancer, will kill about 56,000 people this year. About 135,000 men and women will likely be diagnosed with colorectal cancer this year. About 56 percent of Americans 50 and older have not taken the screening tests that can detect the cancer when treatment can be most effective, and in many cases, the cancer can be cured.

"We want older Americans to know that cancer of the colon is preventable, treatable, and curable when it is detected early. That's why Screen for Life is so important," Thompson said. "Medicare encourages every one of our beneficiaries to ask his or her doctor or health care professional for a colorectal screening test."