The House Appropriations Committee has approved a spending bill that provides a $2 million increase to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Colorectal Cancer Control Program (CRCCP) for the upcoming fiscal year.  In March, members of ASGE’s Health and Public Policy Committee met with congressional offices and asked that funding for the program be increased.

If finalized, the increase would represent the program’s first budget boost in more than a decade. The program, which is currently funded at just over $45 million, supports state and local initiatives aimed at improving colorectal cancer screening rates.

Once the spending bill passes the House, any differences between House and Senate funding levels will need to be reconciled. The Senate has not yet released its companion spending measure.

The House spending bill also includes report language urging the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to explore options to waive cost-sharing requirements for beneficiaries who require a colonoscopy after a positive stool-based screening.  While valuable, report language does not carry the force of law.

The bill also includes report language that urges the National Cancer Institute to prioritize research on colorectal cancer in response to increasing incidence rates of early-onset colorectal cancer and racial/ethnic disparities in colorectal cancer screening and outcomes.  In March, during Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, the ASGE joined 33 other organizations in publishing an advertisement in Politico calling on Congress to address the increase in colorectal cancer diagnoses among young people.