Relates to insurance coverage of certain procedures to detect breast cancer

• Republican1

◆ The sponsor's argument

Why Siela Bynoe says this is needed

New Yorkers are suffering from an increase in breast cancer. Breast Cancer is the most diagnosed form of cancer among U.S. women. Each year, about 30% of all newly diagnosed cancers in women are breast cancer. According to the data from Breatcancer.org, approximately 13% (about one in eight) of U.S. women are going to develop invasive breast cancer during their life. This pattern is replicated in New York State. Accord- ing to data from Department of Health, breast cancer is one of the most common cancers among women. Specifically, each year approximately 16,700 women are diagnosed with breast cancer, and about 2,500 women die from the disease. On Long Island, incidents of breast cancer are thirteen to eighteen percent higher than the statewide average, according to The Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health National Cancer Institute, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, as released in the November 2004 "Report to the U.S. Congress: The Long Island Breast Cancer Study Project." Cancer is an insidious malignancy that thrives when hidden. Providing additional viable detection options at an earlier age for diagnostic testing, as determined appropriate by a patient's own physicians, will lead to earlier diagnosis based upon each patient's unique situation. New Yorkers should have a fighting chance against this malicious disease by bringing more health information to light. This bill would expand breast cancer screenings for covered persons who have a prior history of breast cancer or who have a first degree rela- tive with a prior history of breast cancer, or have had any sonogram or other diagnostic procedure used to detect breast cancer.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.