Four years ago, ASGE initiated a Colorectal Cancer (CRC) Screening CRC program to boost follow-up colonoscopy for uninsured patients. Pilot sites were in two states - Georgia and Maryland.

Today, ASGE is proud to report that for the first time, the FY2027 budget in the state of Georgia includes over $900K dedicated to screening uninsured patients in rural areas for CRC (as well as getting completion colonoscopies when applicable). The governor now has 40 days to ratify the budget.

Community Health Care Systems (CHCS) – the Sandersville-based Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) that has served as the primary site for ASGE’s demonstration project in Georgia since 2023 – will oversee this statewide effort.

The program would be based on the model that ASGE developed with CHCS, but FQHCs that participate in this program would be free to use stool-based tests and/or Fecal Immunochemical Test (FIT) or a mix to screen patients for CRC. There would also be a patient navigation component, structured at the discretion of the FQHCs.

 CHCS will also be receiving $250,000 from the amended FY 2026 Georgia budget to screen uninsured patients in rural areas for CRC (also using the ASGE model).

Securing sustainable state funding has been a central advocacy goal of ASGE’s CRC initiative. Georgia’s leadership marks a critical first step in demonstrating how state-level investment can expand access to lifesaving screening. ASGE is now developing a scalable playbook to help replicate this success in other states and remains optimistic that this milestone will catalyze similar funding efforts nationwide.

This achievement would not have been possible without the generous support of Exact Sciences, as well as, Ironwood and Braintree, a part of Sebela Pharmaceuticals.