The American College of Radiology (ACR) is praising the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for its decision to expand reimbursement for low-dose CT lung cancer screening.
The final recommendation from CMS lowers the screening start age from 55 to 50 and smoking history requirements from 30 pack years to 20. The update was prompted in part by a request the CMS received last year from the GO2 Foundation for Lung Cancer, the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, and the American College of Radiology (ACR) to reconsider its lung cancer screening coverage policy.
"Expanded lung cancer screening access can help doctors hit back against the nation's leading cancer killer and ease lung cancer outcomes disparities -- particularly among women, Black men, and those in rural areas," ACR Lung Cancer Screening Steering Committee chair Dr. Debra Dyer said in a statement released by the college.
![Axial images from unenhanced calcium score cardiac CT (left) and curved planar reformation images from CT angiography (right) show that higher long-term exposure to air pollution is associated with greater coronary artery calcium and more obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD). Top row: Images in a 68-year-old male patient with higher 10-year mean ambient air pollution exposure (7.9 μg/m3 for particulate matter measuring ≤2.5 μm in diameter [PM2.5] and 17.4 parts per billion [ppb] for NO2) with extensive CAD (coronary artery calcium score [CACS] >1,000 and obstructive CAD [≥70% diameter stenosis]). Bottom row: Images in a 57-year-old female patient with lower 10-year mean ambient air pollution exposure (6.3 μg/m3 for PM2.5 and 4.6 ppb for NO2) with no CAD (CACS = 0 and no obstructive stenosis).](https://img.auntminnie.com/mindful/smg/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/06/hanneman.r6SMLzkezo.png?auto=format%2Ccompress&dpr=2&fit=crop&h=167&q=70&w=250)
