Efforts to catch colon cancer earlier in younger adults
The new Pennsylvania law will close those insurance gaps, he said, but noted that it doesn’t address the fact that there are many adults even younger than 45 who could benefit from a free screening test.
Gallagher himself was diagnosed with late-stage colon cancer at 45, which meant the disease was likely growing, undetected, long before he ended up in the hospital with serious stomach pain in early 2020.
“They thought it was originally diverticulitis and they were going to remove half my colon. And when they went in there, they found four tumors,” he said. The discovery led to multiple surgeries, a temporary colostomy bag and chemotherapy.
Gallagher estimates that his insurance paid out close to $1 million for his care, which was extensive given his late-stage diagnosis. He compares that to the average $2,500 it might cost insurers to cover a screening colonoscopy, which can detect cancer at earlier stages that are often less costly to treat.
“What I went through was brutal,” he said. “But if we can avoid that, and even avoid insurance companies having to pay for all these treatments, you would think that would be the way it should be.”
State Rep. Jordan Harris, who represents parts of West and Southwest Philadelphia in the Pennsylvania House, has also questioned whether the state and insurance companies are doing enough to prevent colon cancer deaths in younger people.
Harris’ late wife, Tiffany Harris, died in 2024 from the disease. She was only 36 years old. During legislative hearings, the representative said he didn’t think his wife would have been considered high risk prior to her diagnosis, and that if she had access to routine screening, her case may have been caught earlier.
“I know what happens when this disease goes undetected for too long. No family in Pennsylvania should have to experience that same pain,” Harris said in a statement after the bill gained final passage in the legislature last month.
Lawmakers and cancer survivors said they’re preparing to try and get the recommended minimum age for routine colon cancer screenings down even more. Gallagher said lowering it by another five years could be significant. He plans to introduce legislation to that effect next term.
“I don’t know if we’ll ever get to 35, at least not in my lifetime. I think that would be a Herculean lift,” he said. “But I do think we can go back and get it to 40, which I think is important.”