The Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance (MITA)—the trade association representing manufacturers of medical imaging equipment, radiopharmaceuticals, contrast media, and focused ultrasound therapeutic devices—sent letters to 11 state legislatures, including California, Delaware, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, Tennessee, Oregon, and Wisconsin, in support of eliminating or capping cost-sharing for supplemental and diagnostic screening exams for breast cancer.
“Breast imaging modalities, including mammography, digital breast tomosynthesis, MRI, and ultrasound, are critical to detecting cancer at early stages and improving health outcomes. With screening rates dramatically declining over the last few years, MITA and its members are proud to support measures in state legislatures across the country that would reduce barriers for patients to receive access to technologies that detect cancers early when they are most treatable,” says Patrick Hope, executive director of MITA.
Policies to increase breast cancer screening are particularly important for efforts to achieve health equity, as studies show that rates of cancer screenings are lower among racial and ethnic minority populations, compared to the white population. Similarly, minority populations often experience worse cancer outcomes compared to the white population.
Breast cancer cost-sharing bills HB 355 in Tennessee, HB 815 and SB 965 in Maryland, SB 1041 in Oregon, SB 330 in Nevada, and LD 1836 in Maine passed so far this year.
