Ask Your State Senator to Help Get Gail's Law on the Senate Floor!

The Wisconsin State Senate Committee on Health recently voted 5-0 to advance Senate Bill 264 (Gail's Law), which expands access to secondary breast cancer screenings, to the full State Senate! WRS and other stakeholders are working hard to get the Senate to schedule Senate Bill 264 for a vote when they are in session the week of June 23.

Action Item: E-mail your State Senator and ask them to help us get Senate Bill 264 on the Senate floor!

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Dear (name and title inserted automatically),

I am writing to you as a constituent and a radiologist to respectfully ask for your help in getting Senate Bill 264 on the Senate floor. The Senate Committee on Health voted 5-0 to advance the bill to the full Senate on June 2.

This important legislation, referred to as Gail's Law, would ensure Wisconsin health plans cover supplemental and diagnostic breast exams without cost-sharing for women who meet certain criteria, such as having a risk factor or an abnormality. This bill is consistent with diagnostic/supplemental imaging laws that have been passed in 31 states across the U.S.

Supplemental breast exams (like MRIs and ultrasounds) are recommended for women at increased risk of developing breast cancer by every organization that issues guidelines specific to high-risk women. Supplemental coverage is needed because we know that high-risk women or women with dense breast tissue (a known risk factor) have a high rate of interval breast cancer, which is cancer found in-between normal screening mammograms. This is what claimed the life of breast cancer advocate Gail Zeamer whose tumor was hidden on a screening mammogram due to her dense breast tissue. She tragically passed away last summer.

Diagnostic breast exams (diagnostic mammograms, MRIs, ultrasounds, etc.) are ordered for women who have an abnormality found either by a screening mammogram or through another means of examination. Many women forgo diagnostic exams due to the cost, putting them at risk of a late-stage breast cancer diagnosis.

The evidence is clear--early detection of breast cancer not only saves lives but also lowers treatment costs for the health care system. Studies have shown that stage III or IV breast cancer is 200%-500% more expensive to treat than early stage cancer.

Please help us get Senate Bill 264 scheduled for a Senate Floor vote so that all Wisconsin women have access to medically necessary breast exams.

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