Insurance coverage was one of the strongest predictors of whether eligible patients received cancer screenings based on U.S. Preventive Services Task Force guidelines, according to the American Association for Cancer Research’s 16th annual “Cancer Progress Report,” published Sept. 16.
The USPSTF typically issues evidence-based recommendations on which preventive screenings adults should receive and at what age. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appointed eight new members to the USPSTF after removing two task force leaders and amid broader efforts to overhaul the panel.
The task force has not met since March 2025 and has not issued any cancer screening guideline updates since changing the recommended breast cancer screening age to 40 in April 2024.
According to the AACR report, current screening rates among USPSTF-eligible individuals vary widely based on insurance coverage, with uninsured patients screened at the lowest rates across nearly every cancer type and Medicare enrollees consistently screened at or near the highest rates.
Here are the cancer screening rates among eligible individuals in the U.S. based on USPSTF guidelines, according to the AACR report:
| Overall U.S. cancer screening rates by USPSTF eligibility and insurance status | |||||
| Breast (2024) | Cervical (2021) | Colorectal (2023) | Prostate (2023) | ||
| Age | 50-74 | 40-74 | 21-65 | 45-75 | 50+ |
| Overall | 80% | 73% | 75% | 63% | 37% |
| Medicaid, public or dual eligible | 72% | 67% | 70% | 59% | 22% |
| Medicare (65+ years) | 83% | 83% | 60% | 83% | 46% |
| Private | 83% | 78% | 79% | 68% | 38% |
| Uninsured | 50% | 42% | 57% | 24% | 13% |
Read the full report here.
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