Cervical Cancer Screening and Diagnosis (CPB 0443, reviewed 2026-07-22)
Aetna's Clinical Policy Bulletin CPB 0443 sets the medical necessity rules for cervical cancer screening and diagnosis. For women aged 21 to 29 years, screening every 3 years with cervical cytology alone is considered medically necessary for non-hysterectomized women, and for women aged 30 to 65 years, primary cervicovaginal screening every 5 years with clinician- or self-collected high-risk HPV testing, or cotesting every 5 years, is considered medically necessary. The bulletin considers Pap smear screening not medically necessary for women who had a complete (total) hysterectomy for benign disease, and lists AI-based screening, urine-based tests, methylation markers and several other methods as experimental, investigational, or unproven.