American Gastroenterological Association Membership Policy Priorities: Building the American Gastroenterological Association Advocacy Agenda.

Supported by tremendously dedicated staff, the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) engages in robust advocacy and policy activities to support and protect the interests of the gastroenterology community, including patients, providers, and investigators. AGA advocacy has contributed to important legislative and regulatory successes for our community. Notable recent highlights include phasing out the cost-sharing burdens associated with polypectomy at screening colonoscopy (“the Medicare colonoscopy loophole”), directing the National Institutes of Health to focus on gastrointestinal cancer disparities, lowering the minimum age for colorectal cancer screening from 50 to 45 years, coverage for telemedicine services, expansion of colonoscopy coverage after positive noninvasive colorectal cancer screening (“the colorectal cancer screening coverage continuum”), mitigating scheduled cuts in Medicare reimbursement for gastroenterology services, and increases in federal funding for gastroenterology research.