Archive for Tuesday, November 24, 2009

State law requires insurance payment for doctor-ordered mammograms

Mammography technologist Amber Dreiling talks about the Lawrence Memorial Hospital’s digital mammography units in the old wing of the hospital’s Breast Center at LMH South, 3500 Clinton Place. The digital mammography unit is one of two that the Breast Center received as a part of a $300,000 remodeling project.

Photo by Nick Krug. Enlarge photo.

Mammography technologist Amber Dreiling talks about the Lawrence Memorial Hospital’s digital mammography units in the old wing of the hospital’s Breast Center at LMH South, 3500 Clinton Place. The digital mammography unit is one of two that the Breast Center received as a part of a $300,000 remodeling project.

By Karrey Britt

November 24, 2009

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Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger, Lawrence,

Sandy Praeger

Sandy Praeger

said today Kansas law requires insurance company payment for mammograms for insured women whose physicians have ordered them.

According to Kansas statutes, the decision to have a mammogram is still one that an insured woman and her doctor have the right to make, regardless of age,” Praeger said. “That continues to be the best way to handle this — with a decision between patient and doctor.”

Last week’s announcement that a government-sponsored task force had loosened guidelines for breast-cancer screenings generated new fears about possible health care restrictions during a time when national health care reform is being debated in Congress. It made unclear to many whether the new recommendations would change the coverage for such screenings in insurance policies.

The guidelines from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force suggested that women under age 50 didn’t need routine mammograms and that women 50 and older needed one only every other year.

Praeger said the Kansas Legislature would have the final say in any state changes.

“The only way to change our mammogram mandate now would be for the state to change current law,” she said.

To find the current law, visit the Kansas Legislature’s Web site and enter Statute number 40-2230.

Comments

  1. zstoltenberg (anonymous) says…

    And the Spin begins. It's just a matter of time until the feds do with health care what they did with education in No Child Left Behind. They will tie Federal Funding to State compliance, thereby eliminating the states right to pass and abide by it's own laws.

    “The only way to change our mammogram mandate now would be for the state to change current law,” -Praeger.

    DUH, that's exactly what they will do when the feds threaten to cut their funding. Keep the government out of my health care decisions.

    ( | suggest removal )

  2. ebyrdstarr (anonymous) says…

    zstoltenberg, did you read the article? The reason insurers have to cover mammograms if ordered by doctors now is because of government. Boy, it's a good thing that government is staying out of our health care decisions.

    If the state government didn't require they be covered, do you really think every insurance company in the state would voluntarily cover mammograms any and every time doctors order them?

    ( | suggest removal )

  3. zstoltenberg (anonymous) says…

    State and Federal are two Very different animals.

    ( | suggest removal )

  4. hwarangdo (anonymous) says…

    If the govt didn't oversee the in$urance indu$try, we'd be paying for everything ... someone (as in govt) has to keep an eye on insurers. Even now, insurance only pays for what it thinks a charge should be, not for what it actually is - and we have to scrape up the rest - all in addition to paying the insurance company to "insure" us.
    Meanwhile, has anyone thought about the fact that maybe, just maybe, all this buggaboo by the "Panel" came about because they were influenced by the insurance industry which is trying to eliminate any and every "excess" expense? Oh, and the fact that "X" amount of women can die (are expendable) because someone on that panel thinks it is a-ok? The long arm of greed reaches everywhere.

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  5. neuhofel (Ryan Neuhofel) says…

    hwarangdo says . . . "If the govt didn't oversee the in$urance indu$try, we'd be paying for everything"

    So "WE" aren't paying for the mammograms when they are mandated by law? Just because the provider (doctor, etc.) is paid by a third-party middleman (insurance) doesn't mean "WE" (the patient) is insulated from the actual cost. In fact, this 'managed care' system is what creates the very "insurance profits" you despise!

    Econ 101: COST and PRICE are NOT the same thing!

    ( | suggest removal )

  6. OldEnuf2BYurDad (anonymous) says…

    That lady in the photo looks JUST like Vic Mackey's wife.

    ( | suggest removal )

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