2 minute read
Screenings Are Key to Preventing Colorectal Cancer
by OneWatco
March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month.
To help prevent colorectal cancer – the third most common cancer worldwide – get regular screenings. It’s recommended that regular screenings (typically every 10 years) begin at age 45 and continue until at least age 75.
If you have risk factors, then screening before age 45 (and with specific tests and/or with greater frequency) might be a good idea. Risk factors can include family history of colorectal polyps (growths) or colorectal cancer, having inflammatory bowel disease, or having type 2 diabetes. Race and ethnicity can play a role; African Americans and people of Ashkenazi Jewish descent (descending from Central or Eastern Europe) are more susceptible to colorectal cancer. There can also be a connection between colorectal cancer and having received radiation treatment to the abdomen or pelvic area to treat an earlier cancer.
Common screening methods include at-home tests and colonoscopies. Both types of screenings are considered preventative, and if you are participating in a Watco medical plan, they are covered by insurance. “You’re allowed one per year,” says Benefits Manager Diana Peak. “Whichever a team member chooses to do, they are covered at 100%.”
Watco plans cover routine colonoscopies in full after age 45. If there is a family history of colon cancer, then the age requirement is lifted.
You can use the Healthcare Bluebook tool (found here or on your phone’s app store) to research colonoscopies and associated costs. Use the access code “Watco.” By selecting a procedure – for example, “colonoscopy (with biopsy)” – you can see options and costs for doctors and facilities. Under the indicator “Go Green to Get Green,” a selection highlighted in “green” means the doctor-facility combination has been determined to be a “fair price.” You can save money by going green, with the possibility of earning rewards credited to your Watco Health Savings Account or Health Reimbursement Arrangement account.
If you have questions, email benefits@watco.com or call (844) 859-2826. Visit American Cancer Society’s website for more information.
