A bipartisan amendment to increase insurance benefits for women through yearly screenings gets the first Senate vote Tuesday on health care overhaul legislation.
The amendment — co-sponsored by Sens. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., and Olympia Snowe, R-Maine — would require policies to include a variety of yearly screenings and was inspired in part by controversial recommendations last month that women undergo fewer mammograms and Pap smears to test for cancer.
"My amendment guarantees screening for breast cancer, yes, mammograms," Mikulski said. "We don't mandate that you have a mammogram at age 40. What we say is discuss this with your doctor, but if your doctor says you need one, my amendment says you are going to get one." A vote was expected Tuesday afternoon.
SOURCE: Associated Press > Yahoo News
