Find it Early Act - Tool KitOverview:
Breast cancer is highly curable when detected early, but dense breast tissue, affecting nearly 50% of U.S. women, complicates early detection. Women with dense tissue face higher cancer risk, yet mammograms alone miss about half of these cancers. Additional screening methods exist but often lack insurance coverage.
Many states and insurers, including CMS, don't reimburse for these crucial screenings. The bipartisan Find It Early Act requires insurance coverage for all breast cancer screening needed for early detection, regardless of breast density, and enables earlier detection of breast cancer in women with dense breasts or those at increased risk.
The Find It Early Act was introduced in the House and the Senate—a crucial first step. But to become law we need all of us!
We're mobilizing support to push this vital legislation forward. This act aims to improve access to early breast cancer detection for all women.
What you need to know:The Find It Early Act, was introduced in the House and Senate with bipartisan support, thanks to Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Roger Marshall (R-KS). This act would ensure all health insurance plans cover screening and diagnostic breast imaging with no out-of-pocket costs for women with dense breasts or at higher risk for breast cancer. DenseBreast-info.org was invited to participate in the press conference on Capitol Hill.
This bipartisan legislation would help address insurance barriers to breast cancer screening and lead to the earlier detection of breast cancer in women with dense breasts or at increased risk.
How you can help right now:
We believe in polite persistence! Persuade your congressperson to co-sponsor the bill by following 4 simple steps:
Write a letter!
Step 1: Look up your Member of Congress by entering your zip code at www.House.gov.
Step 2 : Click the link to your Member’s website and click on the Contact Me button.
Step 3: You may need to enter your address, then type in your note stating why breast cancer is important to you and the request to co-sponsor the Find It Early Act. See the sample letter:
Title: Please co-sponsor the Find It Early Act
Message: Copy and paste the suggested message into the form. Leave it as-is, or change it as you see fit. Better yet, write your own story explaining why this bill is important to you and those you love.
—– sample text for the body of your message —–
I am writing today as your constituent to urge you to co-sponsor the Find It Early Act (H.R.3086/S 5141), a bipartisan piece of legislation that would ensure all health insurance plans cover screening and diagnostic mammograms and additional screening for women with dense breasts and other high-risk factors, with no cost-sharing.
Early detection is key to the effective treatment of breast cancer – 99 percent of women who receive an early diagnosis survive it. Unfortunately, women often have to pay high out-of-pocket costs for additional screenings due to risk factors such as breast density or family history. Many women have a heightened risk of breast cancer but cannot afford the cost of screening and will choose to delay or forgo these crucial tests. This decision often leads to later-stage diagnoses when breast cancer is less treatable or possibly incurable and, therefore, terminal. The bipartisan Find It Early Act would eliminate this ‘hidden cost’ of breast cancer diagnosis by requiring private and government insurers to cover the out-of-pocket costs often faced by women who need additional screenings to diagnose their cancer. This policy change would increase the early detection of breast cancer, thereby saving countless lives and saving exorbitant costs of later-stage cancer care.
I urge you to co-sponsor this important piece of legislation that will help more women access essential and potentially life-saving screening services for breast cancer. Thank you sincerely for taking action to represent the interests of your constituents and for playing an integral part in saving countless lives.
Topics: Health or Women’s Issues
Step #4. Remember to do the same with your senators that you can find at www.Senate.gov
Set up a meeting!
Step 1: Call the Capitol Switchboard and ask for your Member of Congress’ office at 202-225-3121 or 202-224-3121, or look up the phone number on your Member's website.
Step 2 : Call the office and ask for the full name of the Health Legislative Assistant.
Step 3: Then ask to speak with that person or send an email requesting a virtual or in-person meeting.
All email addresses in the House are firstname.lastname@mail.house.gov
In the Senate most email addresses are firstname_lastname@senate.lastnameofsenator.gov
If you are emailing the staff, use a short, simple message that communicates that you are a constituent (add an executive, doctor, patient, or other affiliation as you deem appropriate) and would like to arrange a Zoom or in-person meeting to discuss breast cancer.
Spread the Word!
Please invite your friends and colleagues to join the Coalition and send similar letters and meeting requests.
