Millions of women across the country have access to free screening mammography, thanks to its inclusion as a required essential health benefit under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). However, if the results of that screening mammogram suggest the need for a follow-up diagnostic exam to determine if the woman has breast cancer, she may be faced with hundreds to thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket costs — all before she ever gets to treatment. The Access to Breast Cancer Diagnosis Act will eliminate insurance barriers to diagnostic imaging by prevent insurers from imposing cost-sharing practices for these medically necessary exams.

Scientific breakthroughs have dramatically changed the way we treat cancer with an increasing amount of oral anti-cancer therapies becoming available. Unfortunately, outdated policies for insurance coverage haven’t kept up and can force patients to pay much higher out-of-pocket costs for medicines taken orally than those intravenous (IV). For many patients battling cancer, oral anti-cancer therapies are sometimes the only treatment option, not just the best option. This legislation will ensure anyone who has ever received a breast cancer diagnosis has access to the anti-cancer treatments they need.

There are currently more than 155,000 women and men living with metastatic breast cancer in the United States alone. While metastatic breast cancer can be treated, there is no cure. This is why metastatic breast cancer patients do not have time to wait for the treatments they need. Under current regulations, metastatic breast cancer patients are subject to a 5-month waiting period for Social Security Disability Insurance and a 24-month waiting period for eligible Medicare benefits. The Metastatic Breast Cancer Access to Care Act, will provide metastatic breast cancer patients access to the care they need by waiving the 5-month waiting period for Social Security Disability Insurance and the 24-month waiting period for eligible Medicare benefits.

The Protecting Access to Lifesaving Screening (PALS) Act protects access to annual mammograms without cost-sharing starting at age 40 and ensures that women veterans treated in the Veterans Health Administration do not face these obstacles in getting the care they and their health care providers deem necessary. The PALS Act would postpone U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendations that could severely limit women’s access to mammograms until 2021. Because many insurance companies use these guidelines as the basis for coverage, 22 million women between 40 and 49 could be at risk for losing coverage for lifesaving mammograms.