A new, preliminary study has revealed that lung cancer screenings in people on Medicare could help to detect the disease much earlier, but could also come with significant cost of $9.3 billion dollars in the initial five years after implementation.

The study predicts that the screenings could allow cancers in the lung to be detected in earlier, more treatable stages. Currently, only 15 percent of cancers in people 65 years or older are detected at these early stages and the projections from the study indicate that percentage could shoot up to 32 percent in the next five years, more than double the current rate.

This rise of early stage diagnoses would have the potential to drive the rate of late stage detection down 17 percent, from 57 percent to 40. Adjustments like this would translate to 89,000 people being diagnosed with cancers that are more treatable.

Early screening costs would largely be comprised of annual low-dose CT scans. It is estimated that the cost would eventually translate to an extra $3 a month per Medicare user, a cost that is comparable to breast cancer screenings which adds an extra $2.50 a month in costs to each user.

It has not yet been determined whether or not Medicare will agree to reimburse the costs of early detection screening, though it has been strongly voted against by a Medicare advisory committee. The Affordable Health Care Act will require private insurance companies to cover these costs, as of January 1, 2015.

The study used to determine the costs and benefits of early detection screening does not include information or analysis regarding longevity gained or the cost-effectiveness of such an approach. The study itself has been restricted to publication as an abstract with the intent to present the findings in a conference at a later date. It has not yet been peer reviewed. Little can be conclusively determined from the study as it stands, but the projections indicate that more research is certainly needed in this area.