friskyguy:
this is great advice.......I get mine done every 12-18mths.
Making an appointment compared to the thought of wearing a colostomy bag or to die in the future from cancer is an easy decision for me!!
tednlou2:
I can't find any doc doing anal paps here. I assume most colorectal docs can do the HRA?
Jeff G:
--- Quote from: tednlou2 on September 26, 2013, 11:22:10 pm --- I assume most colorectal docs can do the HRA?
--- End quote ---
Not so ... many city's large and small are slow to offer this beneficial test .
phildinftlaudy:
Just looked it up w/ Aetna (my employer-paid insurance) - this is what Aetna's Clinical Policy Bulletin says in regards to the procedure and them covering, or should I say in most cases not covering, the procedure:
Aetna considers high-resolution anoscopy (HRA) medically necessary for the diagnosis of a suspicious anal lesion in persons with abnormal anal physical findings (e.g., anogenital warts, hypo-pigmented or hyper-pigmented plaques/lesions, lesions that bleed, or any other lesions of uncertain etiology).
Aetna considers HRA guidance medically necessary for biopsy and ablation of high-grade anal intraepithelial neoplasia.
Aetna considers HRA experimental and investigational for screening of asymptomatic persons for anal dysplasia and anal cancer.
So, basically they won't cover it unless there are some type of precipitating symptoms.....otherwise, they feel it is experimental.... they provide a host of research citations to back up why they don't cover it if one is asymptomatic and only cover with CPT codes that cover indications for the procedure that they list in the Clinical Policy Bulletin (CPB)
So, in order for me to get this done - my doc would have to be able to justify it w/ one of the CPT codes in the bulletin....
buginme2:
Phil I have Aetna and have never had an issue with them covering it and I didn't have any precipitating symptoms. I assume that each plan is different and it may depend on what your employer has selected to cover???
They even paid for the HPV vaccine for me and that's not even approved for people my age.