MedicaidCoverageMedium impact
Medicaid: New cervical cancer screening guidelines
UnitedHealthcare·OB-GYN, Family Medicine, Internal Medicine +1 more·Network News
Effective date
Feb 5, 2026
We identified it
Jun 3, 2026
Summary
New Medicaid cervical cancer screening guidelines now allow patient-collected hrHPV testing for women aged 30-65 and establish hrHPV testing every 5 years as the preferred method over cytology alone. These changes align with HEDIS technical specifications and allow self-collected samples to count toward quality reporting.
Action Required
Immediately: Billing team must update encounter forms and EMR templates to reflect new cervical cancer screening options including patient-collected hrHPV testing for women 30-65. Update quality reporting procedures to include self-collected hrHPV samples for HEDIS measures. Educate providers on new 5-year hrHPV testing intervals versus 3-year cytology schedules.