The Cancer Support Community supports H.R. 1826, the Prostate Specific Antigen Screening for High-Risk Insured Men Act, to require group health plans and insurance issuers offering health insurance coverage to provide prostate cancer screenings without cost-sharing requirements, such as copays, deductibles, and coinsurances, for high-risk individuals. This bill provides evidence-based preventative care for men who are at high risk for developing prostate cancer and protects from burdensome cost-sharing requirements that create lack of access and inequity.
Accessible evidence-based preventative care is the first step towards saving lives and detecting prostate cancer early. Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in men in the United Sates, killing an estimated 1 in 41 men. The survival rate of early-stage diagnosis is near 100 percent, however the survival rate of late-stage diagnosis is only 30 percent, illustrating the importance of such preventative screenings and tests outlined in this bill. Prostate cancer greatly disproportionately affects African American men and those with familial history of prostate cancer, outlining the positive effect on reducing health disparities and the increase of positive outcomes that accessible care without cost-sharing would provide. This bill would mitigate barriers to care and treatment, increase equity in cancer care, and save lives.
