To amend title XXVII of the Public Health Service Act to require group health plans and health insurance issuers offering group or individual health insurance coverage to provide coverage for prostate cancer screenings without the imposition of cost-sharing requirements, and for other purposes.
About This Bill
Committee
Latest Action · September 14, 2023
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
This bill requires health insurance plans to cover prostate cancer screening tests for men age 40 and older who are at high risk of developing the disease, specifically African-American men and men with a family history of prostate cancer, without requiring patients to pay any out-of-pocket costs like copayments or deductibles. The legislation addresses a significant health disparity, noting that African-American men are 70 percent more likely to develop prostate cancer and 2.1 times more likely to die from it compared to white men, while early detection has a nearly 100 percent survival rate compared to just 30 percent for late-stage diagnoses. The coverage requirement applies to both group health plans and individual health insurance policies and takes effect for plan years beginning January 1, 2024. The bill includes no explicit new federal funding, as it operates through requirements on existing insurance structures to provide covered preventive services without cost-sharing.
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