Susan G. Komen filed a Brief of Amicus Curiae with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in which it makes the case for preventive breast cancer services, recommended by the U.S. Preventive Services Taskforce, to continue to be covered by insurers.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires insurers to cover preventive care at no cost to individuals. This care includes breast cancer screening mammograms, genetic counseling and testing for women who may be genetically predisposed to cancer and medications that can lower one’s risk of developing breast cancer.
Komen argues in its brief that preventive care measures “can help identify and reduce one’s risk of breast cancer, and detect the disease years before symptoms develop. Risk reduction and early detection measures enable individuals and their care providers to fight breast cancer earlier, when more treatment options and better outcomes are possible.”
Susan G. Komen issued a statement in March when a U.S. District Court in Texas removed a requirement from the ACA that insurers fully cover the cost of several breast cancer-related services. That decision is being appealed to the Fifth Circuit.
