Kansas and New Jersey the latest to introduce supplemental breast imaging legislation
Kansas and New Jersey are the latest states to introduce legislation requiring insurers to cover supplemental breast imaging.
The two join several others that have also done so in 2026 including Alabama, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Rhode Island and South Carolina. Altogether, about 30 states have now passed policies addressing this issue, experts estimate.
Breast cancer advocacy group Susan G. Komen celebrated the two bills’ introductions this week. While insurers are required to cover annual screening mammography, the same does not apply for follow-up scans including ultrasounds and MRIs. “Exorbitant” out of pocket costs can keep women from undergoing these crucial exams.
“Nobody should be forced to skip medical care that helps to detect breast cancer early because of the cost, yet thousands of New Jerseyans are forced to make that decision every year,” Molly Guthrie, VP of policy and advocacy for Komen, said in a statement Feb. 10. “This bill will remove the financial barrier so that individuals can get the medically necessary breast imaging they need without having to endure financial burdens.”
Those sponsoring the two companion legislations in New Jersey include Democratic Sens. Linda Greenstein, Vin Gopal and Renee C. Burgess in the state Senate (S1275). Fellow Democratic Assembly members supporting the bill (A3128) in the House include Lisa Swain and Shama A. Haider.
Meanwhile, Republican Insurance Commissioner Vicki Schmidt has introduced a similar bill in Kansas. Komen on Wednesday commended the Senate Committee on Financial Institutions and Insurance for advancing the “vital legislation” while urging the full state Senate to “swiftly call a floor vote.” SB409 was introduced by both Schmidt and the Kansas Department of Insurance.
“As a breast cancer survivor, early detection saved my life, but in so many cases additional screening tools are needed to find suspicious areas,” Schmidt said in a statement Feb. 11. “No matter the reason—be it abnormalities, dense breast tissue or other concerns—Kansans should not have to pay higher out-of-pocket costs for these screenings.”
The Affordable Care Act established that most insurance plans must cover screening mammograms at no cost for women age 40 and older. However, factors such as dense tissue or a genetic disposition to the disease may necessitate additional imaging. But with gaps in insurance coverage, women are sometimes forced to pay anywhere from $234 out of pocket for an ultrasound up to over $1,000 for a breast MRI, according to a Komen-commissioned study. About 1 in 5 patients say they would forego recommended follow-up imaging if they had to pay a deductible, another analysis published in Radiology found.
Members of Congress have pushed a potential national fix to this issue, proposing the Find It Early Act and other similar alternatives, but these bills have failed to find passage.
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.