(1) Notwithstanding section 44-3,131, (a) any individual or group sickness and accident insurance policy, certificate, or subscriber contract delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed in this state and any hospital, medical, or surgical expense-incurred policy, except for short-term major medical policies of six months or less duration and policies that provide coverage for a specified disease or other limited-benefit coverage, and (b) any self-funded employee benefit plan to the extent not preempted by federal law shall include screening coverage for a colorectal cancer examination, laboratory tests for cancer, and a concurrent removal of polyps or biopsy, or both, for any nonsymptomatic person forty-five years of age or older covered under such policy, certificate, contract, or plan. Such screening coverage shall include a maximum of one stool-based preventive screening test as approved by the United States Preventive Services Task Force annually and a flexible sigmoidoscopy every five years, a colonoscopy every ten years, or a barium enema every five to ten years, or any combination, or the most reliable, medically recognized screening test available. The screenings selected shall be as deemed appropriate by a health care provider and the patient.

(2)(a) On or after December 31, 2023, no policy, certificate, or contract, delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed in this state, or any self-funded employee benefit plan, to the extent not preempted by federal law, shall impose a deductible, coinsurance, or any other cost-sharing requirements for screening colonoscopies as recommended by the United States Preventive Services Task Force, including those performed as a result of a positive noncolonoscopy stool-based preventive screening test.

(b) No policy, certificate, or contract, delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed in this state, or any self-funded employee benefit plan, to the extent not preempted by federal law, shall impose a deductible, coinsurance, or any other cost-sharing requirements for any service or item that is an integral part of performing a colorectal cancer screening, including:

(i) Polyp removal performed during the screening procedure;

(ii) Any pathology examination on a polyp biopsy performed as part of the screening procedure;

(iii) Required specialist consultation prior to the screening procedure;

(iv) Bowel preparation medications prescribed for the screening procedure; and

(v) Anesthesia services performed in connection with a preventive colonoscopy.