Lawmakers overwhelmingly passed legislation that would require insurance companies to cover 3D mammograms as long as a cancer specialist has prescribed one.
The measure now sits on Gov. Dannel Malloy's desk.
Rep. Themis Klarides helped usher the bill to passage. She said it doesn't make sense to her that insurance companies have denied covering the cancer screenings.
“Medicaid is covering it. Medicare is covering it, so older people are getting it, poor people are getting it and everybody in between can’t get it?"
The sticking point for Malloy could easily be the price tag for the coverage.
According to the nonpartisan Office of Fiscal Analysis, 3D mammograms will cost $9 million in 2017 fiscal year and $10 million the following year.
Doctors said, however, that 3D exams are more reliable than 2D screenings and that they decrease the number of false positive and unnecessary follow up visits.
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“This means we can better tell which legions are cancerous and which legions are not. Therefore, unnecessary biopsies are avoided.”
A spokesman for Cigna had said back in December that the insurance carrier had seen no evidence to suggest that 2D screenings were any worse than 3D screenings. A spokesman for the Bloomfield based insurer reiterated that stance Monday.
The statement said, "According to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, there is insufficient evidence to determine that 3D mammography is clinically superior to 2D mammography for routine breast cancer screening. "
However, the statement went on to say the company will comply with any new law mandating coverage.
