II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4355 

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 benefits for lung cancer screenings 

for certain individuals without the imposition of cost sharing. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 29, 2020 

Ms. SMITH introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

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 benefits for lung cancer screenings for 

certain individuals without the imposition of cost sharing. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Katherine’s Lung Can5 cer Early Detection and Survival Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Among cancers, lung cancer is the number 

2 1 killer. 

3 (2) Lung cancer causes more deaths than pros4 tate cancer, breast cancer, and colorectal cancer 

5 combined. 

6 (3) The reason for the extremely low 5-year 

7 survival rate in lung cancer patients is the difficulty 

8 to find it at early stages (as patients have no symp9 toms at early stages). 

10 (4) For all stages of lung cancer, the overall 5- 

11 year survival rate is 19 percent, while such rate is 

12 98 percent for prostate cancer and 90 percent for 

13 breast cancer (all stages). 

14 (5) Early detection of lung cancer through 

15 screening could dramatically increase survival rates 

16 for patients. 

17 (6) Current law mandates free screening for 

18 breast cancer, prostate cancer, and colorectal cancer 

19 at much earlier ages than for lung cancer, regardless 

20 of preexisting conditions of the individual to be 

21 screened. 

22 (7) Free screening starts at age 40 for breast 

23 cancer but for lung cancer does not start until age 

24 55, and then and only for individuals with a history 

25 of smoking 30 or more packs of cigarettes per year. 


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1 (8) This Act would save lives and money 

2 through early detection of lung cancer by starting 

3 free screening at age 40. 

4 SEC. 3. REQUIRING COVERAGE OF LUNG CANCER 

5 SCREENINGS FOR CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS 

6 WITHOUT COST SHARING. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2713(a) of the Public 

8 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300gg–13(a)) is amend9 ed— 

10 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

11 end; 

12 (2) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at 

13 the end and inserting a semicolon; 

14 (3) in paragraph (4), by striking the period at 

15 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 

16 (4) by redesignating paragraph (5) as para17 graph (6); and 

18 (5) by inserting after paragraph (4) the fol19 lowing new paragraph: 

20 ‘‘(5) with respect to individuals 40 years of age 

21 or older, lung cancer screenings, regardless of the 

22 smoking history (if any) of such an individual.’’. 


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1 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

2 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to plan years begin3 ning on or after January 1, 2021. 

Æ 


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