HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

138

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2004

H.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

S.D. 1

   


HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

REQUESTING THE Department of Health and the Insurance Commissioner to review reimbursement levels of providers for all mammography studies and follow up diagnostic testing designed to identify breast-related cancers in order to ascertain the appropriateness of those reimbursement levels.

 

WHEREAS, the incidence of breast cancer is increasing in Hawaii; and

WHEREAS, Native Hawaiians have both the highest incidence and death rate from breast cancer in Hawaii; and

WHEREAS, Hawaii has the highest incidence of breast cancer among Caucasian women in the United States; and

WHEREAS, routine mammography can markedly reduce the mortality of breast cancer; and

WHEREAS, according to medical research and the American Cancer Society, additional tests including breast ultrasounds and MRIs can further reduce mortality in high risk patients with dense breasts; and

WHEREAS, breast cancer screening is critically under-funded by Medicare and commercial payers in Hawaii; and

WHEREAS, there is under-reimbursement of mammography relative to other serious diseases; and

WHEREAS, in Hawaii, one-third of mammography units are older than five years, and another third are older than ten years because health care providers cannot afford newer equipment; and

WHEREAS, seven percent of the mammography clinics in Hawaii and the United States have closed in the past 24 months; and

WHEREAS, quality screening mammographic studies and access to that technology is mandated in the State of Hawaii through 432:1-605, Hawaii Revised Statutes; and

WHEREAS, all payers providing health insurance in the State of Hawaii should support reimbursement for mammography at levels which should allow providers to recover costs and acquire current-generation imaging equipment, like computer-aided diagnosis and digital mammography; and

WHEREAS, physicians should be allowed to provide women with access to technology, which can save lives, like computer-aided diagnosis, and additional imaging tests to screen with a high risk of breast cancer; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2004, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Health and the Insurance Commissioner review reimbursement levels of providers for all mammography studies and follow up diagnostic testing designed to identify breast-related cancers in order to ascertain the appropriateness of those reimbursement levels; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Director of Health is requested to investigate the current reimbursement levels for screening and diagnostic mammography and related diagnostic studies, in order to take whatever steps are deemed necessary by the Director of Health to assure adequate access by patients to those studies; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Health, President of the Hawaii Medical Association, President of the American Cancer Society, Chair of the Board of Directors of Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children, and Director of the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii.

Report Title:

Breast Cancer; Mammography Services