New Colorectal Cancer Screening Coverage to Drive US Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Device Market to Almost $2.2 Billion by 2014

WALTHAM, Mass., Aug. 19 /PRNewswire/ — According to Millennium
Research Group (MRG), the global authority on medical technology
market intelligence, new coverage instituted under the Patient
Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 will remove the
financial disincentives associated with colorectal cancer screening
for a large segment of the US population. As a result of these
changes in reimbursement, a growing number of colorectal cancer
screening procedures will be performed through 2014, driving sales
of many gastrointestinal endoscopy devices, including videoscopes
and biopsy forceps.

Under the health care act, all new health insurance policies
must cover preventative exams, including colonoscopies, without
charging out-of-pocket fees such as copayments or deductibles. All
Medicare patients will therefore have colorectal cancer screening
colonoscopies fully covered as of January 1, 2011. This expanded
coverage of colorectal cancer screening procedures will increase
the number of colonoscopies performed over the next five years.
Sales of devices used in the procedures, such as colonoscopes and
biopsy forceps, will also rise to meet this growing demand for
colorectal cancer screening. Although colonoscopy volumes dipped in
2009 during the recession, they are climbing again and will
continue to rise as increased medical insurance coverage encourages
more Americans to undergo screening.

“At the height of the economic downturn, many Americans declined
to undergo colorectal cancer screening because they lost insurance
coverage for it or they felt that paying for a diagnostic procedure
when they did not have any symptoms was not a priority for them in
economically uncertain times,” said Sara Scharf, Ph D, Analyst at
MRG. “As this new coverage is put in place, patients will
increasingly get screened for colorectal cancer.”

MRG’s new report, US Markets for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy
Devices 2010, now includes more segments, detailed com

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