OPINION: Two years ago, I had a colonoscopy. I’m grateful I did. My doctor detected and removed precancerous polyps before they could progress. Because of that timely intervention, I avoided a cancer diagnosis altogether. I share this not for sympathy but rather because it highlights what is truly at stake in an important policy discussion underway at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, one that has received too little public attention but could affect millions of lives.