Share:
House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2023 - 2024
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | December 26, 2023 11:41 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Gina H. Curry |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Diagnostic Breast Imaging |
| In the near future, I plan to introduce legislation to remove out-of-pocket costs for diagnostic imaging for breast cancer. An estimated 12,830 Pennsylvanians will be diagnosed with breast cancer and 1,870 will die from this disease in 2023. Many women have access to free screening mammograms through their insurance. However, if an abnormality is found during the initial screening, the next step is more advanced imaging such as a breast ultrasound or MRI to confirm or rule out breast cancer. The cost for these tests is high and patients are faced with hundreds to thousands of dollars in cost sharing – all before they are even potentially diagnosed with breast cancer. According to a 2019 Susan G. Komen study, “Understanding Cost & Coverage Issues with Diagnostic Breast Imaging”, out-of-pocket expenses for these follow-up tests can range from $234-$1100. Compounded by an already extremely stressful situation due to the emotional burden of waiting for a diagnosis after an abnormal screening, many patients delay diagnostic imaging for months or even years because they simply can’t afford it. This can have tragic consequences as advanced breast cancers are five times more expensive, making it much deadlier and much more costly to treat than breast cancer caught early. Eliminating out-of-pocket costs for diagnostic imaging will save lives and reduce cost for our state’s healthcare system overall. As of Summer 2023, this bill has passed in 20 other states. Pennsylvania can be next to ensure that no patient will have to delay their breast cancer diagnosis due to out-of-pocket costs. I hope you will join me in co-sponsoring this bill to help support these Pennsylvanians in their fight against breast cancer. |
Introduced as HB1944