,,ii  #aahth ,,congress  #b;d ,session  
,s4 #ecfg  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,november #ba1 
#bjbd,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 #bjbd4 
#b4 ,findings ,congress finds the       
following3 7#a7 ,lung cancer is the     
number #a killer of all cancers4  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 diagnosis it at early
 stages1 as patients have no symptoms at
 early stages4  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
 7for all stages7 and #ij percent for   
breast cancer 7for all stages74  7#e7   
,early detection of lung cancer through 
screening could dramatically increase   
survival rates for patients4  7#f7      
,current law mandates that private      
health insurance cover1 without any cost
 sharing requirements1 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 ,screening       
without cost sharing starts at age #dj  
for breast cancer but for lung cancer   
does not start until age #ee1 and then  
and only for those with a history of    
smoking thirty or more packs of         

cigarettes per year4  7#h7 ,this ,act   
would save lives and money through early
 detection of lung cancer by starting   
screening without cost sharing 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
 striking paragraph 7#e7 and inserting  
the following3  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  2 and  7#e7 by adding at   
the end of the undesignated matter at   
the end the following3 ,for the purposes
 of this ,act1 and for the purposes of  

any other provision of law1 the current 
recommendations of the ,united ,states  
,preventive ,service ,task ,force       
regarding breast cancer screening1      
mammography1 and prevention shall be    
considered the most current other than  
those issued in or around ,november     
#bjji44  7b7 ,effective date ,the       
amendments made by subsection 7a7 shall 
apply with respect to plan years        
beginning on or after ,january #a1      
#bjbf4