II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5367 

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 

NOVEMBER 21, 2024 

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 2024’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Lung cancer is the number 1 killer of all 

2 cancers. 

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 diagnosis it at early stages, as patients have no 

9 symptoms 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 (for all stages) and 

13 90 percent for breast cancer (for 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 that private health 

18 insurance cover, without any cost sharing require19 ments, screening for breast cancer, prostate cancer, 

20 and colorectal cancer at much earlier ages than for 

21 lung cancer, regardless of preexisting conditions of 

22 the individual to be screened. 

23 (7) Screening without cost sharing starts at age 

24 40 for breast cancer but for lung cancer does not 

25 start until age 55, and then and only for those with 


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1 a history of smoking thirty or more packs of ciga2 rettes per year. 

3 (8) This Act would save lives and money 

4 through early detection of lung cancer by starting 

5 screening without cost sharing at age 40. 

6 SEC. 3. REQUIRING COVERAGE OF LUNG CANCER 

7 SCREENINGS FOR CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS 

8 WITHOUT COST SHARING. 

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

10 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300gg–13(a)) is amend11 ed— 

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

13 end; 

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

15 the end and inserting a semicolon; 

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

17 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 

18 (4) by striking paragraph (5) and inserting the 

19 following: 

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.’’; and 

23 (5) by adding at the end of the undesignated 

24 matter at the end the following: ‘‘For the purposes 

25 of this Act, and for the purposes of any other proviVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Dec 04, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5367.IS S5367

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1 sion of law, the current recommendations of the 

2 United States Preventive Service Task Force regard3 ing breast cancer screening, mammography, and pre4 vention shall be considered the most current other 

5 than those issued in or around November 2009.’’. 

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

7 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to plan years begin8 ning on or after January 1, 2026. 

Æ 


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