Delaware orders coverage of VC screening By AuntMinnie.com staff writers November 9, 2009 Beginning December 1, private insurers in the state of Delaware will be required to include virtual colonoscopy (also known as CT colonography) as an approved procedure for colorectal cancer screening. With the announcement, Delaware becomes the 15th state (in addition to the District of Columbia) to require private insurers to include VC screening. In May of this year, the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) rejected a bid to mandate national coverage of the virtual colonoscopy screening. Delaware Insurance Commissioner Karen Weldin Stewart announced the VC mandate in an October 29 bulletin sent to health insurers who are issuing, delivering, or renewing policies in the state. “It is very important that at-risk people and those over the age of 50 get colorectal screenings,” Weldin said in a statement accompanying the release. “Many may find that the virtual colonoscopy is a procedure that overcomes the negative perceptions of what is involved in the traditional screening modalities.” The requirement follows the endorsement of the Delaware Cancer Consortium and Delaware’s secretary of health and social services, Rita Landgraf. The department said that insured patients may continue to choose sigmoidoscopy and optical colonoscopy for colorectal cancer screening, but that virtual colonoscopy may be a less invasive and less costly procedure. VC could be a popular screening option “based on our feedback so far,” Michael Gould, special assistant to the commissioner, told AuntMinnie.com People consider it less invasive, “and there’s an interest level in it,” he said.