I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6404 

To require that every mammography report delivered to a patient after 

a mammography examination, as required by section 354 of the Public 

Health Service Act (commonly referred to as the ‘‘Mammography Quality 

Standards Act of 1992’’), contain a summary of the patient’s breast 

density and a statement concerning the benefit of supplementary screening tests for patients with dense breast tissue, where such additional 

evaluations are recommended by a patient’s interpreting physician. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 15, 2010 

Mr. MEEK of Florida (for himself, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. ISRAEL, and Ms. 

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To require that every mammography report delivered to a 

patient after a mammography examination, as required 

by section 354 of the Public Health Service Act (commonly referred to as the ‘‘Mammography Quality Standards Act of 1992’’), contain a summary of the patient’s 

breast density and a statement concerning the benefit 

of supplementary screening tests for patients with dense 

breast tissue, where such additional evaluations are recommended by a patient’s interpreting physician. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Breast Density and 

3 Mammography Reporting Act of 2010’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 The Congress finds as follows: 

6 (1) Individuals receiving mammograms are not 

7 currently required to receive medical summaries or 

8 reports from their mammogram providers which ad9 dress breast density or its correlation to breast can10 cer. 

11 (2) The American Cancer Society reports that 

12 an individual with dense breast tissue faces a risk of 

13 developing breast cancer 4 or more times higher 

14 than an individual without dense breast tissue. 

15 (3) The National Cancer Institute estimates 

16 that 1 in 8 women in the United States will develop 

17 a cancer of the breast in their lifetime. 

18 (4) The Centers for Disease Control and Pre19 vention reports that breast cancer is the number one 

20 cause of cancer death among Hispanic women, and 

21 the number two cause of cancer death among White, 

22 Black, Asian/Pacific Islander, and American Indian/ 

23 Alaska Native women. 

24 (5) The Breast Imaging Reporting and Data 

25 System (BI–RADS) is a standardized interpretation 

26 tool for mammogram evaluation developed by the 


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1 American College of Radiology. BI–RADS is widely 

2 used in the industry to indicate the absence or likeli3 hood of breast cancer. The BI–RADS scoring sys4 tem evaluates likelihood based in part on measure of 

5 breast density. 

6 SEC. 3. BREAST DENSITY REPORTING BY FACILITIES THAT 

7 PERFORM MAMMOGRAMS TO PHYSICIANS 

8 AND PATIENTS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Clause (ii) of section 354(f)(1)(G) 

10 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

11 263b(f)(1)(G)) is amended— 

12 (1) in each of subclauses (III) and (IV), by 

13 striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; and 

14 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(V) the summary under subclause 

16 (IV) shall include information regarding 

17 the patient’s individual measure of breast 

18 density— 

19 ‘‘(aa) based on the Breast Imag20 ing Reporting and Data System (BI– 

21 RADS) established by the American 

22 College of Radiology and used by the 

23 National Cancer Institute; or 

24 ‘‘(bb) as specified by the Sec25 retary based upon new scientific 


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1 knowledge, technological advances, or 

2 other updated medical procedures 

3 where the use of such screening devel4 opments is consistent with the prac5 tice of medical experts in the field; 

6 ‘‘(VI) the summary under subclause 

7 (IV) shall convey to the patient his or her 

8 increased risk of developing breast cancer 

9 based on his or her individual measure of 

10 breast density as measured under sub11 clause (V) and analyzed by the patient’s 

12 interpreting physician; and 

13 ‘‘(VII) a written report under this 

14 clause shall include the following notice: ‘If 

15 your mammogram demonstrates that you 

16 have dense breast tissue, which could hide 

17 small abnormalities, you might benefit 

18 from supplementary screening tests for ex19 panded detection, depending upon your in20 dividual risk factors and the recommenda21 tion of your interpreting physician. A re22 port of your mammography results, which 

23 contains information about your breast 

24 density, has been sent to your treating 

25 physician’s office, and you should contact 


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1 your treating physician if you have any 

2 questions or concerns about your report.’; 

3 and’’. 

4 (b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—This section and the 

5 amendments made by this section shall not be construed 

6 to alter in any way Federal requirements relating to finan7 cial obligations of any person in connection with health 

8 insurance. 

Æ 


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