Title: To amend title 10, United States Code, to include digital breast tomosynthesis as a primary and preventative health care service under the military health system and the TRICARE program.
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security

Summary:
Better and Robust Screening Today Act or the BRST Act
This bill revises revises coverage of primary and preventive health services for women under the TRICARE program to include the use of digital breast tomosynthesis in breast cancer screening.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5238 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5238

   To amend title 10, United States Code, to include digital breast 
 tomosynthesis as a primary and preventative health care service under 
          the military health system and the TRICARE program.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 21, 2019

 Ms. Houlahan (for herself, Mr. Pappas, Mr. Cisneros, Ms. Spanberger, 
 Mr. Kilmer, Ms. Haaland, Mr. Moulton, Ms. Roybal-Allard, Ms. Schrier, 
Mr. Cook, Mr. Phillips, and Ms. Slotkin) introduced the following bill; 
         which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend title 10, United States Code, to include digital breast 
 tomosynthesis as a primary and preventative health care service under 
          the military health system and the TRICARE program.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    The Act may be cited as the ``Better and Robust Screening Today 
Act'' or the ``BRST Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) A woman born today has a one in eight chance of being 
        diagnosed with breast cancer at some time during her life.
            (2) Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer and 
        the second leading cause of cancer death among women.
            (3) Death rates from breast cancer in the United States 
        have dropped 40 percent between 1989 and 2017 which translates 
        to 375,900 deaths avoided during those 28 years.
            (4) The decline in breast cancer death rates have been 
        attributed to both improvements in treatment and early 
        detection and screening.
            (5) When breast cancer is detected in an early and 
        localized stage, the five-year survival rate is 99 percent, 
        further demonstrating why proper screening is essential.
            (6) Conventional mammography and digital mammography are 
        known to be less effective in the breast cancer screening 
        process for all women, including those with dense breast 
        tissue, than digital breast tomosynthesis screening.
            (7) Medicare and the Veterans Health Administration cover 
        digital breast tomosynthesis mammography screenings.
            (8) The TRICARE program does not currently cover digital 
        breast tomosynthesis mammography screenings.

SEC. 3. IMPROVEMENT TO BREAST CANCER SCREENING.

    Section 1074d(b)(2) of title 10, United States Code, is amended by 
inserting before the period at the end the following: ``, including 
through the use of digital breast tomosynthesis''.
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