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

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3749 To amend title XXVII of the Public Health Service Act to expand the availability of coverage for lung cancer screenings without the imposition of cost sharing. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 8, 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 expand the availability of coverage for lung cancer screenings 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 Law for 4 Lung Cancer Early Detection and Survival Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 (1) Lung cancer is the number 1 killer of all 8 cancers. 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:14 Jun 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3749.IH H3749 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3749 IH (2) Lung cancer causes more deaths than pros- 1 tate cancer, breast cancer, and colorectal cancer 2 combined. 3 (3) The reason for the extremely low 5-year 4 survival rate in lung cancer patients is the difficulty 5 to find it at early stages (as patients have no symp- 6 toms at early stages). 7 (4) For all stages of lung cancer, the overall 5- 8 year survival rate is 19 percent, while such rate is 9 98 percent for prostate cancer and 90 percent for 10 breast cancer (all stages). 11 (5) Early detection of lung cancer through 12 screening could dramatically increase survival rates 13 for patients. 14 SEC. 3. EXPANDING THE AVAILABILITY OF COVERAGE FOR 15 LUNG CANCER SCREENINGS WITHOUT THE 16 IMPOSITION OF COST SHARING. 17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2713 of the Public Health 18 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300gg–13) is amended— 19 (1) in subsection (a)— 20 (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 21 the end; 22 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking the pe- 23 riod at the end and inserting a semicolon; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:14 Jun 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3749.IH H3749 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3749 IH (C) in paragraph (4), by striking the pe- 1 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 2 (D) by redesignating paragraph (5) as 3 paragraph (6); and 4 (E) by inserting after paragraph (4) the 5 following new paragraph: 6 ‘‘(5) lung cancer screenings, in addition to any 7 coverage for such screenings provided pursuant to 8 paragraph (1), for individuals who have a high risk 9 of lung cancer due to genetic, occupational, family 10 history, or other exposures and who has a referral 11 from a specialist (such as a pulmonary medicine 12 physician), provided that such specialist explains the 13 benefits and harms of such screenings and the indi- 14 vidual’s risk of lung cancer.’’; and 15 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub- 16 section: 17 ‘‘(d) SPECIAL RULE FOR CERTAIN LUNG CANCER 18 SCREENINGS.—In the case of a lung cancer screening fur- 19 nished to an individual that would be a service described 20 under subsection (a)(1) but for the fact that the individual 21 stopped smoking more than 15 years prior to the date of 22 such screening or is 80 years of age or older as of such 23 date, such screening shall be deemed to be a service so 24 described under such subsection.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:14 Jun 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3749.IH H3749 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3749 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 20:14 Jun 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3749.IH H3749 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS