The United States Preventative Services Task Force Listened!

OREGON CITY, Ore. - June 24, 2013 - PRLog -- As of today, USPSTF's recommendation for providing hepatitis C tests to all American Baby Boomers is a Grade B. The Caring Ambassadors Program joins its voice to all of the others in the hepatitis C community who are applauding USPSTF for making this important upgrade. A Grade B means that the service is recommended unequivocally and that the benefit of the service is considered to be moderate to substantial. A Grade B recommendation will mean that the one-time hepatitis C test will become standard of care for all Baby Boomers. Just as importantly, under the Affordable Care Act, the Grade B recommendation means that the test will be covered as a preventive service with no cost to the individual. USPSTF has taken a monumental step towards combating hepatitis C by ensuring that the millions of Baby Boomers who are unaware that they are living with this disease will no longer remain ignorant of their status. Hepatitis C can be cured, but an individual must know that they have the virus before they can receive treatment. As USPSTF's recommendation is implemented, every single American Baby Boomer will know his or her status and be able to move forward with life-saving treatment.

The United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) announced today the decision to modify their recommendations regarding screening for hepatitis C. In July 2012, USPSTF issued a grade C as part of their draft guidance for administering a one-time test for hepatitis C to members of the birth cohort, that is, individuals born between 1945 and 1965, commonly known as Baby Boomers. The C grade indicated that the task force recommended against routinely providing this service. This grade C recommendation was received with dismay by members of the hepatitis C community as it contradicted the positions taken by leading organizations in the field, including other governmental agencies such as the CDC. Moreover, USPSTF's recommendation was certain to have an overwhelmingly negative impact on the detection and treatment of hepatitis C in Baby Boomers given that the task force's recommendations are considered the gold standard for this type of analysis and are directly tied to reimbursement levels under the Affordable Care Act. Baby Boomers account for 75 percent of the estimated 3.2 million American living with hepatitis C and the vast majority of them are unaware of their status; this C grade recommendation ensured that these infected individuals would remain ignorant of their status, leading to unnecessary illness and death. Leaders in the Hepatitis C community, including the Caring Ambassadors Program, responded with vigor to USPSTF's call for comment regarding this recommendation. Fortunately, the Task Force listened.

The Caring Ambassadors Program is buoyed by these recent governmental actions to encourage the testing for everyone at risk for hepatitis C. If you are a member of the birth cohort, make sure that you bring these recent developments to the attention of your physician and get tested. USPSTF's new recommendation ensures that this potentially life-saving test will be available to all Baby Boomers. At your next visit, your primary care physician should ask you whether you've been tested for hepatitis C, but there is no guarantee that this will happen. So speak up. Ask your doctor about the test for hepatitis C and become an ambassador for your own health.