Health
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey signed a bill Monday that may ensure all breast cancer screenings are covered by insurance, improving access across the state.
Currently, only annual mammograms are covered by insurance. In the U.S., about 10 to 12% of girls are called back for further testing after a mammogram, and these additional diagnostic tools not covered by insurance can cost a whole lot or 1000’s of dollars out of pocket.
The bill, a Medically Necessary Breast Examination and Screening Act for Equality and Early Detection, will eliminate these costs and associated barriers. By 2026, based on a press releasePatients have access to cancer screenings and tests without incurring out-of-pocket costs. Insurers must cover the price of breast cancer diagnostic tests, digital breast tomosynthesis screening (DBT), and breast MRIs and ultrasounds.
By stopping patient cost-sharing from increasing, the laws ensures that each one patients who need more rigorous testing have access to it, no matter their financial situation.
“This legislation will help ensure that cost is not a barrier to women getting the screenings and care they need,” Healey said in the discharge.
Between 2016 and 2020, there have been about 136 recent cases of breast cancer per 100,000 women in Massachusetts, barely higher than the national average of 129 per 100,000 women. based on the Susan G. Komen Foundation. In 2024 American Cancer Society estimates There might be 7,150 recent cases of breast cancer in women in Massachusetts, 730 of which might be fatal.
Susan G. Komen estimates that the breast cancer mortality rate for girls is 16 per 100,000 women, with rates increasing because the cancer progresses. Women diagnosed with stage 1 localized breast cancer have a 5-year relative survival rate of 99%. However, by stage 4, the 5-year survival rate is barely 31%, meaning 69% will die inside five years of diagnosis. based on the American Cancer Society.
“Early detection of breast cancer saves lives,” Sen. Joan Lovely (D-Salem), one among the bill’s sponsors, said within the press release. “This legislation makes early detection diagnostic testing accessible and affordable, giving women the vital resources they need to detect early-stage breast cancer.”
The bill received statements of support from Benjamin L. Ebert, MD, PhD, president and CEO of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Meredith Mendelson, executive director of the Ellie Fund, a Massachusetts nonprofit that fights breast cancer and provides free services for breast cancer cancer patients and families.
“We know that when health insurance plans cover medically necessary screenings and diagnostic breast imaging, we can detect breast cancer at an earlier stage, which can make a tremendous difference in outcomes,” Ebert said in a press release.
Dana- Farber, which has been driving its mobile mammography van to underserved neighborhoods in Boston and surrounding communities to perform mammograms since 2002, has long been committed to improving access to health look after all. The MA Radiological Society, the American Cancer Society's Cancer Action Network (ASC CAN), the Susan G. Komen Foundation, and Massachusetts hospitals and community health centers worked together to advocate for the passage of this laws.
Although initiatives corresponding to the mobile mammography cart have made progress in helping women get initial screenings, the price of follow-up screenings when vital often ends in a delay in treatment, which impacts mortality. Although white and black women are diagnosed with breast cancer at similar rates, the mortality rate is 40% higher for black women, based on Dana-Farber.
“Despite the fact that breast cancer mortality rates have been declining for several decades, not all people have benefited equally from the advances in prevention, early detection and treatment that have contributed to these lower rates,” says Marc Hymovitz, director of presidency relations in Massachusetts for the ASC CAN, said in a press release. “Removing cost barriers is one step toward eliminating these inequalities.”
image credit : www.boston.com