Preventive Cancer Screenings Cost You Nothing

Benjamin Franklin once said, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." Forget this and you might pay a high price. Each year thousands of Americans die from preventable causes and many delay early treatment.

Cancer is a great example of how early detection means earlier treatment. Prostate, colon, cervical, and breast cancer have high survival rates if treatment starts early. And you're lucky, with your Service Benefit Plan coverage your preventive screenings for these diseases are covered at no additional cost to you. Ask yourself, "When is the last time I had a physical?" If it has been awhile, you may need to call your doctor for an appointment.

Some things help you better understand your health care needs include:

• Talking to your doctor at your next appointment about what preventive screenings are appropriate for you. You can check out covered preventive screenings for children and adults in Section 5(a) of the 2011 Service Benefit Plan brochure.
• Logging on to Blue Health Connection will help you learn more about cancer prevention. There you can read articles from experts and track your health progress.
• Finally, taking the interactive Blue Health Assessment ; helps you understand your own health risks and provides an action plan specifically tailored to improving or maintaining your health.

Taking action costs you nothing. Doing nothing can cost you everything.

March 2009/Revised December 2009. Written by James Lawrence, Accenture. Resources include Blue Health Connection and Blue Health Assessment.

Page last updated: December 29, 2011