In an effort to combat one of the deadliest cancers in the world, a government task force is now recommending that patients get screened annually for lung cancer. 

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, an independent panel of government-based experts, released a draft recommendation on Monday which would clear the way for insurance companies to cover CT scans -- a type of X-ray that can better detect lung cancer -- for those patients with the highest chance of acquiring the deadly disease: people ages 55 to 80 who smoked a pack of cigarettes a day for 30 years or two packs a day for 15 years. The task force estimates that 10 million Americans would fit the conditions for the CT scans.

CT scans cost between $100 and $400 and are generally not covered by private insurance companies or by Medicare. However, under the Affordable Care Act, insurers would be required to cover this type of preventive service if the recommendation is final.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in both men and women in the U.S. and worldwide, responsible for 29 percent of cancer deaths -- more than breast cancer, colon cancer and prostate cancer combined.

And because the disease is often found too late for treatment to be fruitful, almost 90 percent of those who contract it die from it.  Approximately 85 percent of lung cancers in the U.S. are attributable to smoking.

Screenings, however, can help thwart these deadly statistics. "The evidence shows we can prevent a substantial number of lung cancer deaths by screening," said Dr. Michael Lefebvre, a task force leader and family physician at the University of Missouri. The screening would help detect 20,000 of the 160,000 instances of lung cancer that occur in the U.S. each year.

The task force recommendations follow the guidelines of other major cancer organizations such as the American College of Chest Physicians and the American Lung Association, which has recommended lung cancer screening with CT scans for those at-risk.

While the evidence shows that these scans will prevent a number of lung cancer deaths, some doctors are concerned that the recommendation might lead to overdiagnosis and overtreatment of cancers, in a similar manner that the widespread screening for breast and prostate cancers have done. 

Dr. Peter Bach, director of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center's Center for Health Policy and Outcomes, who has studied the impact of lung cancer screening said with the new guidelines, "over diagnosis is guaranteed."

The task force recommendation is available for public comment until Aug. 26, after which the group is expected to decide whether to make the recommendation final.