July 5, 2011
REP. SUSAN JOHNSON HOSTS INTL BREAST CANCER EXPERTS AT CAPITOL
New CT Law Serving As Model
State Representative Susan Johnson, Vice Chair of the legislature’s Insurance Committee, today hosted Taiwanese breast cancer specialist Dr. Pai-Jung Huang at the State Capitol where they discussed recently approved legislation that will offer more coverage for breast screenings.
Dr. Huang, Medical Director of the Taipei Medical University Hospital, joined breast cancer specialists from Massachusetts at today’s summit. It was coordinated by Nancy M. Cappello, Ph.D., President and Founder of Are You Dense, Inc., a breast cancer information clearinghouse and advocacy organization. Dr. Cappello is a breast cancer survivor.
“I’m proud that Connecticut has become a leader in ensuring that insurers cover earlier screenings,” said Rep. Johnson. “In my first term we passed a law requiring doctors to inform their patients if they have dense breast tissue and advise them about supplemental screening tests when they have their annual mammograms. This year we expanded the law to require insurers to cover additional screenings for women with dense breast tissue.”
This year, Rep. Johnson introduced legislation on the House floor to require insurance coverage of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for breast cancer screening after a woman is found to have dense breast tissue and she is determined to be at increased risk for breast cancer due to family history or prior personal history. This is consistent with recommendations of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, the American Cancer Society, and the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
The new policies will go effect in January. Currently Connecticut requires that insurance policies cover baseline mammograms for women age 35 to 39 and yearly mammograms for women age 40 or older.
Susan Johnson is serving her second term representing Connecticut’s 49th General Assembly District in Windham. She is Vice Chair of the state legislature’s Insurance & Real Estate Committee.