Healey Signs Bill to Address Breast Cancer Screening Inequities
Legislation will eliminate costly barriers to follow up breast cancer screening
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network Supports Alternative to Bill Threatening Access to Mammograms
April 6, 2006
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- April 6, 2006 -- Millions of women could lose insurance coverage for mammograms and other cancer screenings required by state law under a bill reported out of the Senate health committee in March that soon could be headed for consideration by the full Senate. The “Health Insurance Marketplace, Modernization and Affordability Act” (S. 1955) gives health insurance plans the option of bypassing state consumer protections including mammography, colon cancer screenings and other cancer prevention and treatment services.
Today the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) announced its support of an alternative bill that would increase access to affordable, high-quality health care and protect state-enacted guarantees of benefits. The bill (S. 2510), sponsored by Sens. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), would create a program based on the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP), which has provided extensive benefit choices at affordable prices to members of Congress and federal employees for decades.
“While we certainly support the goal of making health insurance more affordable, we believe that in doing so, state laws to ensure lifesaving care must be preserved,” wrote Daniel E. Smith, the Society’s national vice president of government relations, and Wendy K.D. Selig, vice president of legislative affairs, in a letter to Durbin and Lincoln. “This bill will increase access to quality care while respecting state-enacted patient protections.”
Coverage for mammography, which has been shown to be the best tool currently available to detect breast cancer at an earlier, more treatable stage, is required in 49 states. A growing number of states now require coverage of crucial colon, prostate and cervical cancer screenings. This coverage could be jeopardized as a result of S. 1955, which would enable health insurance plans, including those formed through business associations known as Small Business Health Plans (SBHPs), to bypass state consumer protections as long as they also offer a plan that includes the same protections as any one of the plans offered to state employees in the five most populous states -- California, New York, Illinois, Texas or Florida.
Cancer advocates across the country have been contacting members of Congress to voice their opposition to S. 1955. In the coming weeks, ACS CAN will intensify its grassroots efforts to defeat the bill.
The text of the letter to Sens. Durbin and Lincoln follows:
“On behalf of the millions of volunteers and supporters of the American Cancer Society, we are writing to express our support for S. 2510, The Small Employers Health Benefits Program Act of 2006 as an alternative to legislation creating Association Health Plans (AHPs) or Small Business Health Plans (SBHPs). As one of the oldest and largest voluntary health agencies in the United States, we applaud your leadership, along with that of Senator Richard Durbin, in increasing access to affordable, high-quality healthcare that protects state-enacted guarantees of benefits.
“While we certainly support the goal of making health insurance more affordable, we believe, in doing so, state laws to ensure lifesaving care must be preserved. We recognize the enormous difficulties that small businesses and their employees face in the health insurance market. We all agree that we must do more to expand the number of people with meaningful insurance coverage, but we must be careful to make sure that we are delivering quality coverage. Carving out more Americans from the protections afforded by their own states is not an acceptable price to pay.
“Currently, citizens across the country are protected by a combined total of more than 130 state laws to ensure coverage for vital cancer screenings and treatments –access that has greatly helped produce favorable health outcomes for people at risk for cancer or who already have cancer. Just recently, the American Cancer Society announced that, for the first time, the number of cancer deaths from one year to the next actually declined. Continued success in the war against cancer requires that we expand, not reduce, the number of people with access to critical cancer screenings, prevention services, and treatments.
“Unlike similar legislation passed by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, your bill does not preempt state laws concerning patient protections of vital importance to the cancer community, including potentially life-saving screenings and treatments. Because this bill will increase access to quality care while respectingstate-enacted patient protections, we support S. 2510, the Small Employers Health Benefits Program Act of 2006.
“The American Cancer Society applauds your efforts to increase access to quality healthcare that ensures access to crucial, life-saving services. We look forward to working with you on this important legislation.”
Sincerely,
Daniel E. Smith
National Vice President
Federal and State Government Relations
Wendy K. D. Selig
Vice President
Legislative Affairs
ACS CAN is the nonprofit, nonpartisan sister advocacy organization of the American Cancer Society. ACS CAN is dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major public health problem through voter education and issue campaigns aimed at influencing candidates and lawmakers to support laws and policies that will help people fight cancer. ACS CAN does not endorse candidates and is not a political action committee (PAC). For more information, visit www.fightcancer.org.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Steven Weiss
Phone: (202) 661-5711
More Press Releases About