Congressman reintroduces mammogram, MRI availability act

Representative Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., has reintroduced the Mammogram and MRI Availability Act, a women's health initiative that would require insurance companies, which already cover diagnostic mammograms, to also reimburse for annual screening mammograms for women 40 and older as well as MRI screenings for high-risk women.

While annual screening mammograms are already covered under Medicare and Medicaid, many private insurers currently cover only diagnostic mammograms. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has recommended that women 40 and older should have a mammogram once every one or two years. A landmark NCI study from 2005 affirmed that mammograms contributed to a pronounced drop in the number of breast cancer deaths.

The act, H.R. 995, would amend the Public Health Service Act and Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to require that group and individual health insurance coverage and group health plans provide coverage for annual screening mammography for women 40 years of age or older and for such screening and an annual MRI for women at high risk for breast cancer if the coverage or plans include coverage of diagnostic mammography for women 40 years of age or older.

"Today in the United States, breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death for women, and it is the leading cause of cancer death for women between the ages of 40 and 49," said Nadler. "We now have the technology and resources to ensure that all at-risk women are regularly screened, which will greatly improve chances for early detection and treatment. The fact that many private insurers still refuse to cover basic screening mammography is reprehensible. This bill would ensure that cost is never a factor in deciding whether to get a mammogram."

On Feb. 11, the legislation was referred to the House committee and the Committee on Energy and Commerce, in addition to the Committee on Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.