Congress should pass legislation to expand insurance coverage to give women with dense breasts access to supplemental breast screening. 

Mammograms work well for many women, but they are not as effective in finding cancer for the 40% of women who have dense breasts.  Legislation has been introduced in Congress, such as the Find It Early Act (HR3086) by Representatives Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) and Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01) along with award winning journalist Katie Couric. This Bill would require all health insurance plans to cover supplemental screening and diagnostic mammograms for women at increased risk for developing breast cancer, including having dense breasts, with no cost sharing (co-payment or deductible).  

Presently, 24 states plus DC, have passed similar laws for expanded insurance coverage of breast imaging after mammography for women with dense breasts. We are urging Congress to give women in all states equal access to these life-saving screening tools. It is pressing for Congress to do this now before another federal law, which mandates that women be informed of their breast density, becomes effective next September 2024.  Why this issue is so important: 

• 1 in 8 women are diagnosed with breast cancer, and that number has been worsening. 
• An estimated 43,700 women in the US will die of breast cancer this year.
• Breast cancer is almost 100% survivable if caught early, but if caught late, a woman has only a 25% 5-year survival rate.
• Mammography misses up to 50% of breast cancers in women with dense breasts, meaning almost 300,000 women annually will be incorrectly told that they don’t have breast cancer, when they do.
• More cancers are missed in women with dense breasts, who tend to be younger (30-60 years old), Black, Latina, or Asian.
• Women with dense breasts are at higher risk for breast cancer and cancer mortality.   
  • 71% of breast cancer occurs in dense breasts
  • Having dense breasts is a bigger risk factor than family history. 
•  Imaging technologies exist to detect cancer in dense breasts but are often unavailable because insurance will not cover, and out-of-pocket costs can be significant.
• Lack of insurance coverage makes physicians reluctant to offer patients these imaging technologies as options. 
• Providing access to women to the right supplemental screening tool for their breast type can enable the earlier detection of breast cancer. 

 Please sign this petition to show your support for expanding access to supplemental breast cancer screening so women with dense breasts can obtain the right imaging tools to find their cancer early and saves lives.