Starting January 2019: Breast cancer screenings
Louisiana’s health insurance providers will be required to cover follow-up cancer screenings for certain breast cancer survivors.
Under new law, a female breast cancer survivor who has undergone a bilateral mastectomy will qualify for coverage. Digital 3-D mammograms will also be available for eligible patients.
The rule was first proposed earlier this year by a breast cancer survivor. State Rep. Julie Stokes (R-Kenner) raised her idea before lawmakers in March, two months after announcing that her cancer was in remission.
“Had 3-D mammography or tomosynthesis been available — or if I was told about it at the time — I might have averted the whole thing and caught it before it spread to lymph nodes, before it upended my life in some major ways,” Stokes told the state House’s insurance committee.
Many laws have been passed in recent years with Breastoration’s assistance in drafting, testifying and advocating for more education about breast reconstruction and holistic funding by insurance companies. 2018 was no different. Sen. Carter was inspired to author a bill requiring doctors and hospitals to better educate women about breast reconstruction before performing any surgery after his niece, Chontel, underwent a prophylactic double mastectomy with reconstruction in 2017 due to a genetic predisposition to cancer. Rep. Stokes, shared her own experience as a recent breast cancer survivor with her colleagues and, with assistance from Dr. Rupley, passed legislation licensing genetic counselors in Louisiana and mandating insurance coverage for state-of-the-art mammography and annual preventative screenings for cancer survivors.
These new laws will be included in a new Breast Cancer Treatment Alternatives Brochure which Breastoration drafted at the request of the LSBME and which will be disseminated to every women in the state diagnosed with breast cancer by her physician and hospital before any treatment can begin.