Six years ago, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force doled out a controversial recommendation: Change long-standing breast cancer-screening recommendations and advise women to wait until age 50 rather than 40 to start getting mammograms. The task force also said women should get the test every other year instead of annually.

Criticism was swift, and rightfully so. The call for the change died down until the same recommendations resurfaced this month. I'm hoping the recommendations die this time around, too.

The proposed change has big ramifications: If the recommendations are finalized, according to Avalere Health analysis, the move could deny coverage of biennial mammograms to some 17 million women, most of whom are covered by employer-sponsored plans.

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