GREENSBORO, N.C. — When our own Julie Luck announced she had colon cancer, her biggest desire was to use her story to encourage others to get screened. Even her latest Facebook post is a reminder to check your colon.
A viewer emailed us this:
I have been following Julie and her cancer journey and ironically, had my annual physical the same week she announced her diagnosis.
I'm 46 years old. Imagine my surprise when Blue Cross Blue Shield North Carolina told me it was not going to cover my colonoscopy.
They told me they do not recognize 45 as the age to begin screening and they follow the old guideline of 50. What?!?!?
In May of 2021, The US Preventive Services Task Force revamped their recommendation to include screenings for those 45 to 75 years old. Previously, it was 50 to 75 years old. To be clear, the screenings can include at-home tests as well as colonoscopies - it's not colonoscopies alone.
2 Wants To Know contacted Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC and this is what a spokesman said:
Blue Cross NC supports dropping the eligible colorectal cancer screening age from 50 years old to 45 years old to allow for earlier screenings of younger populations in alignment with the United States Preventive Services Taskforce (USPSTF) guidelines.
We will be covering these screenings starting at age 45, effective June 1, 2022.
Why wait until June? We'll keep pressing them on it.
In the meantime, March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness month and the WFMY News 2 family will be wearing dark blue ribbons as a reminder for viewers and as an encouragement for Julie as she continues to fight.
A lot of folks have been asking how to get a card of encouragement to Julie. You can send them here:
Julie Luck
c/o WFMY News 2
1615 Phillips Avenue
Greensboro, NC 27405
