Florida passes bill requiring insurers to cover supplemental breast imaging
Florida has become the latest state requiring insurers to cover supplemental breast imaging with no patient cost-sharing.
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed Senate Bill 158 into law on May 20 following its approval by the Florida legislature. While federal rules require payers to cover regular screening mammograms, some women may need follow-ups if they have dense breasts or receive inconclusive results.
This has resulted in some paying anywhere from $200 out-of-pocket for a breast ultrasound up to over $1,000 for an MRI, Susan G. Komen estimates. Without these funds, many may decide to skip necessary imaging, previous research has shown.
“Thousands of Floridians require diagnostic and supplemental breast imaging every year, yet many forgo these critical services due to high out-of-pocket costs. Not anymore,” Molly Guthrie, VP of policy and advocacy for Komen, said in a statement May 21. “This lifesaving legislation means they can now receive the breast imaging they require, likely leading to an earlier breast cancer diagnosis and often better health outcomes.”
Around 30 states have now passed similar bills, including Arkansas last month and Virginia in March. Lawmakers in Oklahoma also recently did the same, but Gov. J. Kevin Stitt (R) vetoed the bill, worried about “new and costly insurance mandates on private health plans.”
Republican Reps. Jean Schmidt and Josh Williams recently introduced legislation in Ohio to address this issue, Komen reported Wednesday. This year alone, over 11,800 individuals will be diagnosed with breast cancer and 1,400 will die from the disease. Komen said it hopes H.B. 271’s eventual passage will curtail these numbers.
“This legislation aims to help detect breast cancer early and reduce long-term healthcare costs for Ohioans,” Schmidt said in a statement. “Early detection of breast cancer saves lives.”
Last month, bipartisan members of Congress reintroduced the Access to Breast Cancer Diagnosis Act, which would require insurers to cover supplemental imaging nationwide.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.