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.