CANCER-RELATED ACTS PASSED IN CONNECTICUT SINCE 1998

Topic:
CANCER; DISEASES; LEGISLATION;
Location:
DISEASES;


June 9, 2008		2008-R-0349
CANCER-RELATED ACTS PASSED IN CONNECTICUT SINCE 1998

By: Janet L. Kaminski Leduc, Associate Legislative Attorney

You asked for a list of public acts passed in Connecticut since 1998, and the introducing committee for each, related to cancer. Table 1 presents information for acts that originated from a committee other than Appropriations.

Table 1: Public Acts Relating to Cancer

(1998 – 2008)

*Public Act #*	*Title*	*Relevant Description*	*Committee*
1999-284	An Act Concerning Managed Care Accountability	Requires insurance coverage for prostate cancer screening.	Public Health
2001-2, JSS	An Act Concerning The Expenditures Of The Department Of Social Services	Requires Medicaid coverage for certain women diagnosed with breast or cervical cancer under a national screening program.	Emergency Certification
2001-4, JSS	An Act Concerning The Implementation Of Expenditures For Various State Health Programs And Services And Making Technical And Other Changes To Certain Public Health And Related Statutes	Directs DPH to develop informational pamphlets on gynecologic cancers, such as cervical, ovarian, and uterine cancer, and provide them to hospitals, physicians, and other health care providers for patients' use.	Emergency Certification

Table 1: Continued

*Public Act #*	*Title*	*Relevant Description*	*Committee*
2001-171	An Act Concerning Health Insurance Coverage For Cancer Clinical Trials, Hearing Aids For Children Age Twelve And Younger, Pap Smear Tests, Colorectal Cancer Screening And Mammograms, Psychotropic Drug Availability And Medicaid Coverage For Mammograms	Requires insurance coverage for (1) routine patient care costs associated with certain cancer clinical trials, (2) pap smear tests, and (3) colorectal cancer screening. Expands required insurance coverage for annual mammograms by requiring coverage beginning at age 40 instead of 50.	Public Health
2003-119	An Act Concerning Health Insurance Underwriting And Benefits And Disclosure Of Health Benefit And Claim Experience Data To Certain Bargaining Agents	Broadens the insurance coverage requirements for group policies issued in another state where at least 51% of the employees are employed in Connecticut. The coverage must meet Connecticut law, including benefit mandates for prostate and colon cancer screenings, cancer clinical trials, tumors and leukemia, mammography, and cancer drugs.	Insurance
2003-236	An Act Concerning Public Health Emergency Response Authority	Allows the public health commissioner, in a public health emergency, to authorize nursing homes, day care providers, and youth camps to provide potassium iodide (which prevents or decreases the likelihood of developing thyroid cancer following radiation exposure) to their residents, enrollees, staff, and others present.	Public Health
2003-265	An Act Concerning The Department Of Motor Vehicles, Drunken Driving And The Licensing Of Sixteen And Seventeen Year Old Motor Vehicle Operators	Authorizes the DMV commissioner to issue a special license plate promoting childhood cancer awareness. The special fees collected for the plates must be deposited in the childhood cancer awareness account that the act creates.	Judiciary
2004-49	An Act Concerning Statutes Applicable To Health Care Centers And The Issuance of Stop Loss Policies	Requires HMO plans covering FDA-approved prescription drugs for cancer treatment to also cover “off-label use” of those drugs. “Off-label use” means that the drugs are used to treat a type of cancer not included in the medication's labeling.	Insurance
2005-69	An Act Concerning Health Insurance Coverage For Breast Cancer Screening	Requires insurance coverage for ultrasound screening of a woman's entire breast or breasts that a physician recommends based on her BIRADS classification (i.e., the American College of Radiology's Breast Imaging Reporting and Database System), subject to any policy provisions applicable to other covered services.	Insurance

Table 1: Continued

*Public Act #*	*Title*	*Relevant Description*	*Committee*
2005-272	An Act Concerning Revisions To Department Of Public Health Statutes	Requires the best practices subcommittee of DPH's Quality of Care Advisory Committee to review and make recommendations, by January 1, 2006, concerning best practices for when breast cancer screening should be done by using comprehensive ultrasound screening or mammogram examinations.	Public Health
2006-38	An Act Concerning Health Insurance Coverage For Breast Cancer Screening	Changes when health insurance policies must provide coverage for ultrasound screening of a woman's breast or breasts. Instead of as indicated in PA 2005-69, the act requires coverage if (1) a mammogram shows heterogeneous or dense breast tissue based on BIRADS or (2) a woman is considered at an increased breast cancer risk because of family history, her own prior breast cancer history, positive genetic testing, or other indications her physician or advanced-practice registered nurse determines.	Insurance
2006-77	An Act Designating The Month Of November As Lung Cancer Awareness Month And Concerning The Establishment Of A Public Umbilical Cord Blood Bank	Requires (1) the governor to designate November as Lung Cancer Awareness Month to heighten public awareness that lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death of both men and women in the United States and (2) suitable events be held in the State Capitol and other places the governor designates.	Public Health
2006-131	An Act Concerning Developmental Needs Of Children And Youth With Cancer	Requires insurance coverage for neuropsychological testing of children diagnosed with cancer after December 31, 1999 that a licensed physician orders to assess the extent chemotherapy or radiation treatment has caused the child to have cognitive or developmental delays.	Public Health
2006-195	An Act Concerning Revisions To Department Of Public Health Statutes	Expands the breast cancer program's current public education and outreach initiative to include publicizing the benefits of early detection and the recommended frequency of screening services, including clinical breast examinations and mammography. Requires DPH, within available appropriations, to establish a comprehensive state cancer plan, which must provide for (1) a statewide smoking cessation program that targets Medicaid recipients; (2) the development and implementation of (a) a program that encourages people to get colorectal screenings and (b) a statewide clinical trials network; (3) identifying services for, and provision of services to, cancer survivors; and (4) identifying and providing services to organizations offering hospice or palliative care education.	Public Health

Table 1: Continued

*Public Act #*	*Title*	*Relevant Description*	*Committee*
2007-67	An Act Concerning Hospitalization At An Out-Of-Network Facility During Treatment In Cancer Clinical Trials	Changes the law requiring insurance coverage for certain cancer clinical trials. Specifies that the required hospitalization coverage includes treatment at an out-of-network facility if (1) it is unavailable at an in-network facility and (2) the clinical trial sponsors are not paying for it. Requires the out-of-network hospital and insurer or HMO to make the out-of-network hospital treatment available at no greater cost to the patient than if treatment was available at an in-network facility.	Insurance
2007-129	An Act Concerning Child Day Care Services, Youth Camps And The Emergency Distribution Of Potassium Iodide Tablets In Certain Facilities	Requires nursing homes, day care providers, and youth camps to provide potassium iodide (which prevents or decreases the likelihood of developing thyroid cancer following radiation exposure) to their residents, enrollees, staff, and others present at the public health commissioner's direction in a public health emergency.	Public Health
2007-137	An Act Concerning The Palliative Use Of Marijuana	Allows a physician to certify an adult patient's use of marijuana after determining that the patient has a debilitating condition, including cancer, and could potentially benefit from the palliative use of marijuana. It does not require insurers to cover the palliative use of marijuana.	Judiciary

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