Gov. Josh Shapiro signs landmark law requiring insurers to cover life-saving breast cancer screenings

Gov. Josh Shapiro on Monday signed his first bill into a law – and a first-of-its-kind in the nation – that eliminates all costs for preventative screenings and genetic testing in at high risk for developing breast cancer.

With the stroke a pen in a bill-signing ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda, Shapiro enacted Senate Bill 8 that requires insurers to fully cover the cost of breast MRI sand ultrasound for women with high risk conditions and the cost for genetic testing and counseling people at high risk of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations, which predisposes them to breast, ovarian and prostate cancer. The law takes effect starting in 2025.

On hand to witness the signing was first lady Lori Shapiro; their daughter Sophia; the bill’s sponsor Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward, R-Westmoreland County; House Speaker Joanna McClinton, D-Philadelphia, and Pennsylvania Breast Cancer Coalition founder Pat Halpin-Murphy; and an army of Republican and Democratic House and Senate members and breast cancer survivors and advocates.

High-risk conditions in this measure are defined as women who have dense breast tissue, a personal or family breast cancer history, a genetic predisposition or prior radiation therapy.

“No one should avoid getting these potentially life-saving treatments because they can’t afford it,” Shapiro said. “Thanks to Kim Ward, they won’t have to. We all have a mom, a grandma, a friend or a colleague who’s battled breast cancer. I want us to think about them today. By taking away the burden of cost, we can ensure that more women like them can get life-saving health care they need.”

The Democratic governor also touted the measure as an example of what he believes can be accomplished with a divided Legislature where Democrats control the House of Representatives and Republicans who hold the majority in the Senate.

“Pennsylvanians have called on all of us to come to this building and to support common sense solutions to the problems people in the commonwealth face every single day,” the governor said. “Today we are all doing just that. We are helping women fight breast cancer and live healthier lives. We are putting forth real solutions to real problems everyday Pennsylvanians battle.”

He praised Ward, a breast cancer survivor, who took her own diagnosis and used it to find a way to help other women battling the same disease.

Ward, in turn, credited her fellow lawmakers for supporting the legislation, which passed both chamber unanimously, and Halpin-Murphy, who shepherded the bill’s passage through both chambers and helped celebrate that feat at a news conference last week.

“This is indeed a big day,” Ward said. “It is just humbling and such an honor that we have all of these legislators that made this happen. And I agree with the governor we can do big things in this legislature and this was a very good first start.”

McClinton spoke of how this law will be a help to women of color particularly African American, who have a mortality rate for breast cancer is 40%, a rate she called ” absolutely staggering and unacceptable.” She said having the co-pay and deductible covered by insurers will “mean lives saved and early detection.”

She echoed the sentiment about the bipartisanship that led to the bill’s passage as a sign of “hope for all that we’ll accomplish together.”

This law builds on a measure passed in 2020 that required insurers to cover the cost of breast cancer MRIs and ultrasounds but it did not require them to pay for copays and deductibles.

Ward chose the number eight to assign to her bill as a reminder to the public that one in eight women are diagnosed with breast cancer.

Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @JanMurphy.