New Pennsylvania insurance law guarantees no-cost colon cancer screenings starting at age 45 instead of 50

From Philly and the Pa. suburbs to South Jersey and Delaware, what would you like WHYY News to cover? Let us know! Pennsylvanians with state-regulated health insurance plans, like those sold on the Affordable Care Act marketplace, will now be able to get colon cancer screenings at no cost starting at age 45 instead of 50. A new law passed by the Pennsylvania legislature with bipartisan support and signed by Gov. Josh Shapiro on Oct. 22 expands the minimum age eligibility for full coverage of routine screenings, which can include colonoscopies, stool test kits and blood tests. Champions of the new law, like state Rep. Pat Gallagher, D-Philadelphia, hope that it will help more people access early screening and catch colon cancer at earlier stages. “It s one small step to a greater step to get people early detection,” said Gallagher, who was a lead sponsor of the bill and is a colon cancer survivor. “And I keep going back to early detection, because it is a treatable, curable cancer if de