Katherine’s Lung Cancer Early Detection and Survival Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 238 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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 11, 2021 Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania (for himself, Mr. DESAULNIER, and Mr. LOWENTHAL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 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 cov- erage 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 Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Katherine’s Lung Can- 4 cer Early Detection and Survival Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:36 Feb 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H238.IH H238 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 238 IH (1) Lung cancer is the number 1 killer of all 1 cancers. 2 (2) Lung cancer causes more deaths than pros- 3 tate cancer, breast cancer, and colorectal cancer 4 combined. 5 (3) The reason for the extremely low 5-year 6 survival rate in lung cancer patients is the difficulty 7 to find it at early stages (as patients have no symp- 8 toms at early stages). 9 (4) For all stages of lung cancer, the overall 5- 10 year survival rate is 19 percent, while such rate is 11 98 percent for prostate cancer and 90 percent for 12 breast cancer (all stages). 13 (5) Early detection of lung cancer through 14 screening could dramatically increase survival rates 15 for patients. 16 (6) Current law mandates free screening for 17 breast cancer, prostate cancer, and colorectal cancer 18 at much earlier ages than for lung cancer, regardless 19 of preexisting conditions of the individual to be 20 screened. 21 (7) Free screening starts at age 40 for breast 22 cancer but for lung cancer does not start until age 23 55, and then and only for those with a history of 24 smoking thirty or more packs of cigarettes per year. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:36 Feb 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H238.IH H238 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 238 IH (8) This Act would save lives and money 1 through early detection of lung cancer by starting 2 free screening at age 40. 3 SEC. 3. REQUIRING COVERAGE OF LUNG CANCER 4 SCREENINGS FOR CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS 5 WITHOUT COST SHARING. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2713(a) of the Public 7 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300gg–13(a)) is amend- 8 ed— 9 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 10 end; 11 (2) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at 12 the end and inserting a semicolon; 13 (3) in paragraph (4), by striking the period at 14 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 15 (4) by redesignating paragraph (5) as para- 16 graph (6); and 17 (5) by inserting after paragraph (4) the fol- 18 lowing new paragraph: 19 ‘‘(5) with respect to individuals 40 years of age 20 or older, lung cancer screenings, regardless of the 21 smoking history (if any) of such an individual.’’. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:36 Feb 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H238.IH H238 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 238 IH (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 1 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to plan years begin- 2 ning on or after January 1, 2022. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:36 Feb 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H238.IH H238 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS