Executives at two commercial payors said they'd follow CMS' lead when it comes to patients covered under Medicare but beyond that their support for the agency's policy is less clear.
Payors say online, automated systems will bring standardization and efficiency to prior authorizations, but doctors and labs are uncertain about the impact on patient care.
The decision is a quick reversal from a recent decision by the insurer not to cover fecal DNA testing and makes it the final major US insurer to cover Cologuard.
The test, intended as an aid for diagnosing thyroid cancer where cytopathology is inconclusive, is now covered for around 250 million patients nationwide.
Under a national agreement, UnitedHealthcare will cover the FoundationOne genomic profiling assay in patients with metastatic stage IV non-small cell lung cancer.
In Genome Biology this week: gut microbiome study of individuals from Tanzania and Botswana, sixth version of the Network of Cancer Genes database, and more.
