,,ii  #aafth ,,congress  #b;d ,session  
,s4 #dcee  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,july #bi1     
#bjbj ,ms4 ,smith introduced the        
following bill2 which was read twice and
 referred to the ,committee on ,health1 
,education1 ,labor1 and ,pensions  ,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 coverage to provide    
benefits for lung cancer screenings for 
certain individuals without the         
imposition of cost sharing4  #a4 ,short 
title ,this ,act may be cited as the    
,katherine's ,lung ,cancer ,early       
,detection and ,survival ,act of #bjbj4 
#b4 ,findings ,congress finds the       
following3  7#a7 ,among cancers1 lung   
cancer is the number #a killer4  7#b7   
,lung cancer causes more deaths than    
prostate cancer1 breast cancer1 and     
colorectal cancer combined4  7#c7 ,the  
reason for the extremely low #e-year    

survival rate in lung cancer patients is
 the difficulty to find it at early     
stages 7as patients have no symptoms at 
early stages74  7#d7 ,for all stages of 
lung cancer1 the overall #e-year        
survival rate is #ai percent1 while such
 rate is #ih percent for prostate cancer
 and #ij percent for breast cancer 7all 
stages74  7#e7 ,early detection of lung 
cancer through screening could          
dramatically increase survival rates for
 patients4  7#f7 ,current law mandates  
free screening for breast cancer1       
prostate cancer1 and colorectal cancer  
at much earlier ages than for lung      
cancer1 regardless of preexisting       
conditions of the individual to be      
screened4  7#g7 ,free screening starts  
at age #dj for breast cancer but for    
lung cancer does not start until age    
#ee1 and then and only for individuals  
with a history of smoking #cj or more   
packs of cigarettes per year4  7#h7     
,this ,act would save lives and money   
through early detection of lung cancer  

by starting free screening at age #dj4  
#c4 ,requiring coverage of lung cancer  
screenings for certain individuals      
without cost sharing  7a7 ,in general   
,section #bgac7;a7 of the ,public       
,health ,service ,act 7#db ,u4,s4,c4    
#cjj;gg-#ac7;a77 is amended-- 7#a7 in   
paragraph 7#b71 by striking and at the  
end2  7#b7 in paragraph 7#c71 by        
striking the period at the end and      
inserting a semicolon2  7#c7 in         
paragraph 7#d71 by striking the period  
at the end and inserting 2 and2  7#d7 by
 redesignating paragraph 7#e7 as        
paragraph 7#f72 and  7#e7 by inserting  
after paragraph 7#d7 the following new  
paragraph3  7#e7 with respect to        
individuals #dj years of age or older1  
lung cancer screenings1 regardless of   
the smoking history 7if any7 of such an 
individual4  4  7b7 ,effective date ,the
 amendments made by subsection 7a7 shall
 apply with respect to plan years       
beginning on or after ,january #a1      
#bjba4