I
107TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 3910
To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for coverage
under the Medicare Program of certain tests to screen for ovarian cancer
upon certification by the Director of the National Institutes of Health
that such tests are effective.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 7, 2002
Mr. ISRAEL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways
and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker,
in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the juris-
diction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide
for coverage under the Medicare Program of certain tests
to screen for ovarian cancer upon certification by the
Director of the National Institutes of Health that such
tests are effective.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protect Our Women
From Ovarian Cancer Act of 2002’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
(1) Ovarian cancer is a serious and underrecog-
nized threat to women’s health.
(2) Ovarian cancer, the deadliest of the
gynecologic cancers, is the fourth leading cause of
cancer death among women in the United States.
(3) Ovarian cancer occurs in 1 out of 57 women
in the United States.
(4) Approximately 50 percent of the women in
the United States diagnosed with ovarian cancer die
as a result of the cancer within 5 years; among Afri-
can-American women, only about 48 percent survive
5 years or more.
(5) Ovarian cancer is readily treatable when it
is detected in the beginning stages before it has
spread beyond the ovaries, but the vast majority of
cases are not diagnosed until the advanced stages
when the cancer has spread beyond the ovaries.
(6) In cases where ovarian cancer is detected in
the beginning stages, more than 90 percent of
women survive longer than 5 years.
(7) Only 25 percent of ovarian cancer cases in
the United States are diagnosed in the beginning
stages.
(8) In cases where ovarian cancer is diagnosed
in the advanced stages, the chance of 5-year survival
is only about 25 percent.
(9) Ovarian cancer may be difficult to diagnose
because symptoms are easily confused with other
diseases and because there is no reliable, easy-to-ad-
minister screening tool.
SEC. 3. MEDICARE PREVENTIVE BENEFIT EXPANSION TO
INCLUDE CERTAIN SCREENING TESTS FOR
OVARIAN CANCER.
(a) IN GENERAL.—
(1) COVERAGE.—Section 1861 of the Social Se-
curity Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x) is amended—
(A) in subsection (s)(2)—
(i) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of
subparagraphs (U);
(ii) by adding ‘‘and’’ at the end of
subparagraph (V); and
(iii) by inserting after subparagraph
(V) the following new subparagraph:
‘‘(W) qualified ovarian cancer screening tests
(as defined in subsection (ww)); and’’; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new sub-
section:
‘‘Qualified Ovarian Cancer Screening Tests
‘‘(ww)(1) The term ‘qualified ovarian cancer screen-
ing test’ means a test that consists of any (or all) of the
procedures described in paragraph (2) provided for the
purpose of early detection of ovarian cancer to a woman
over 50 years of age who has not had such a test during
the preceding year.
‘‘(2) The procedures described in this paragraph are
as follows:
‘‘(A) A proteomic pattern blood test to identify
ovarian cancer.
‘‘(B) Such other procedures as the Secretary
finds appropriate for the purpose of early detection
of ovarian cancer, taking into account changes in
technology and standards of medical practice, avail-
ability, effectiveness, costs, and such other factors as
the Secretary considers appropriate.’’.
(2) PAYMENT FOR PROTEOMIC PATTERN BLOOD
TEST
UNDER
CLINICAL
DIAGNOSTIC
LABORATORY
TEST FEE SCHEDULES.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—Section 1833(h)(1)(A)
of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1395l(h)(1)(A)) is
amended by inserting after ‘‘(including prostate
cancer screening tests under section 1861(oo)
consisting of prostate-specific antigen blood
tests’’ the following: ‘‘, and including ovarian
cancer 
screening 
tests 
under 
section
1861(ww)(2)(A) consisting of proteomic pattern
blood tests’’.
(B) PAYMENT RATE.—Section 1833(h)(7)
of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1395l(h)(7) is amended
by inserting after ‘‘a primary screening method
for detection of cervical cancer)’’ the following:
‘‘and qualified ovarian cancer screening tests
under section 1861(ww)(2)(A)’’.
(3) 
CONFORMING
AMENDMENTS.—Section
1862(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1395y(a)) is
amended—
(A) in paragraph (1)—
(i) in subparagraph (H), by striking
‘‘and’’ at the end,
(ii) in subparagraph (I), by striking
the semicolon at the end and inserting ‘‘,
and’’, and
(iii) by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new subparagraph:
‘‘(J) in the case of qualified ovarian cancer
screening tests (as defined in section 1861(ww)),
which are performed more frequently than is covered
under such section;’’; and
(B) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘or (H)’’
and inserting ‘‘(H), or (J)’’.
(b) CONTINGENT
EFFECTIVE
DATE.—(1) The
amendments made subsection (a) shall become effective (if
at all) in accordance with paragraph (2).
(2)(A) The Secretary of Health and Human Services
shall submit to Congress the report required under section
4(b) containing the results of the evaluation conducted
under section 4(a) analyzing the effectiveness of using
proteomic patterns in blood serum to identify ovarian can-
cer, including the effectiveness of so using proteomic pat-
terns in combination with other screening methods for
ovarian cancer.
(B) The amendments made by subsection (a) shall
become effective, on the date that is the first day of the
first calendar quarter that begins after the Secretary sub-
mits the report referred to in subparagraph (A), unless
the Secretary includes in that report a finding that use
of such technique is not sufficiently effective, reliable, or
cost effective for use in detecting ovarian cancer in medi-
care beneficiaries.