Katherine’s Lung Cancer Early Detection and Survival Act of 2021
Bill: H.R.238 | Sponsor: Rep. Boyle, Brendan F. (D-PA)
Policy area: Health

Summary:
Katherine's Lung Cancer Early Detection and Survival Act of 2021  This bill requires private health insurance plans to cover, without cost sharing, screenings for the detection of lung cancer for individuals 40 years of age and older without regard to such individual's smoking history.

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.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Katherine's Lung Cancer Early 
Detection and Survival Act of 2021''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Lung cancer is the number 1 killer of all cancers.
            (2) Lung cancer causes more deaths than prostate cancer, 
        breast cancer, and colorectal cancer combined.
            (3) The reason for the extremely low 5-year survival rate 
        in lung cancer patients is the difficulty to find it at early 
        stages (as patients have no symptoms at early stages).
            (4) For all stages of lung cancer, the overall 5-year 
        survival rate is 19 percent, while such rate is 98 percent for 
        prostate cancer and 90 percent for breast cancer (all stages).
            (5) Early detection of lung cancer through screening could 
        dramatically increase survival rates for patients.
            (6) Current law mandates free screening for breast cancer, 
        prostate cancer, and colorectal cancer at much earlier ages 
        than for lung cancer, regardless of preexisting conditions of 
        the individual to be screened.
            (7) Free screening starts at age 40 for breast cancer but 
        for lung cancer does not start until age 55, and then and only 
        for those with a history of smoking thirty or more packs of 
        cigarettes per year.
            (8) This Act would save lives and money through early 
        detection of lung cancer by starting free screening at age 40.

SEC. 3. REQUIRING COVERAGE OF LUNG CANCER SCREENINGS FOR CERTAIN 
              INDIVIDUALS WITHOUT COST SHARING.

    (a) In General.--Section 2713(a) of the Public Health Service Act 
(42 U.S.C. 300gg-13(a)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at the end and 
        inserting a semicolon;
            (3) in paragraph (4), by striking the period at the end and 
        inserting ``; and'';
            (4) by redesignating paragraph (5) as paragraph (6); and
            (5) by inserting after paragraph (4) the following new 
        paragraph:
            ``(5) with respect to individuals 40 years of age or older, 
        lung cancer screenings, regardless of the smoking history (if 
        any) of such an individual.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a) shall 
apply with respect to plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2022.
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