Sponsor
Michael Lawler
Representative · R-NY
Representative · R-NY
The bill expands no-cost annual mammography to women starting at age 30—improving access and equity and likely catching some cancers earlier—while increasing screening-related costs, administrative burden, and the risk of false positives for some women.
Women aged 30 and older — including Medicare and Medicaid enrollees — will have guaranteed annual screening mammograms with no cost-sharing beginning Jan 1, 2026, increasing access to preventive cancer screening and reducing financial barriers.
Broader, more consistent screening across a younger age group could lead to earlier detection and treatment for some breast cancers, potentially improving health outcomes for affected women.
Expanding routine screening to start at age 30 will increase the number of false positives and follow-up testing for some women, causing anxiety and additional procedures.
Insurers and taxpayers may face higher program costs to cover more screenings, which could translate into higher premiums or require additional federal/state spending.
Allowing a Medicare screening every 11 months could increase utilization and add administrative complexity for providers and payers, creating workflow and billing burdens for health systems.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires no-cost annual screening mammography starting at age 30 for Medicare, Medicaid, and private plans, effective Jan 1, 2026.
Official title: To amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act and title XXVII of the Public Health Service Act to provide no-cost coverage for annual screening mammography beginning at 30 years of age.
Introduced April 28, 2026 by Michael Lawler · Last progress April 28, 2026
Requires annual screening mammography at no cost beginning at age 30 for people covered by Medicare, Medicaid, and group or individual private health plans, effective January 1, 2026. Removes cost-sharing for covered screenings, sets payment rules for Medicare, and adds screening mammography as a mandatory preventive service under Medicaid and private plan preventive coverage rules.