Advanced Health Care Coverage For Annual Cancer Screenings

July 19, 2019

I'm very pleased to have worked with State Rep. Gary Turco, (D-Newington) and Sen. Matt Lesser (D-Middletown) as well as advocate Jan Kritzman of Newington in fighting for the passage of a bill that advances health care coverage for annual cancer screenings which was eventually added to language in the most recently passed biennium budget.

Jan Kritzman's advocacy helped shed so much light on this issue, for example, our state's extremely high rate of breast cancer. While we need to continue to pursue and advocate for a cleaner environment, we also need to help those at risk of this disease by giving them the tools for early detection.

For women identified as having dense breast tissue, screening and prevention is essential but many patients have to first meet their deductible or pay out of pocket for the procedure, sometimes opting to forgo the procedure due to the cost or lack of coverage.

However, with this new law, which goes into effect January 1, 2020, health insurers will be prohibited from charging coinsurance, co-payments, deductibles and other out-of-pocket expenses for breast ultrasounds and mammograms.

Statistics show as many as 3,500 new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed this year in Connecticut. That’s in addition to the one-in-eight women who will be diagnosed with breast cancer at some point in their lives. Aside from skin cancer, it is the highest rate of cancer for females among women in Connecticut.