Find It Early Act

A Federal bill, the Find It Early Act, introduced by Reps. Rosa DeLauro and Brian Fitzpatrick, would ensure all health insurance plans cover screening and diagnostic breast imaging with no out-of-pockets costs for women with dense breasts or at higher risk for breast cancer. DenseBreast-info.org was invited to participate at the press conference on Capitol Hill.

This legislation would help address insurance barriers to breast cancer screening and lead to the earlier detection of breast cancer in women with dense breasts or at increased risk.

The 118^th U.S. Congress has just started, and this bill will be renumbered for the 2023 session.

How to Support the Find It Early Act

For a bill to move forward into law, support from other congressmembers is important. Sharing your thoughts and input with your congressperson would be helpful for them to consider.

Below are some suggestions on how to do that:

• Who is my congressperson? Your congressperson represents your interests in Congress. Use this link to find and get phone/email contact information for your congressperson (see zip code search at top right): https://www.house.gov/representatives.
• Let’s meet!
  • In person or virtual “visits” are most effective, but phone calls can help, too. Call the congressperson’s district office located near you and request a meeting with the congressperson when they will be in their district office or with the relevant staff member who handles “health” issues.
  • The goal of the meeting is to explain why you feel the Find It Early Act is important and to ask if your congressperson will consider co-sponsorship of the bill (co-sponsorship is when a congressperson adds their name as a supporter of an existing bill).
  • If you are affiliated with an advocacy group or have friends who would like to attend the meeting, make plans to attend as a group.
•  Be Prepared
  • At the meeting, please be ready to share any personal experience(s) with breast imaging and insurance coverage issues (for instance, bring an insurance bill if you feel comfortable), and/or your thoughts. It is important to explain why you feel the bill is important.
  • This printable/shareable handout might help your talk (or can be sent after the call as follow up): Find It Early Act Fact Sheet
  • If your state has an existing state insurance law, your congressperson will find that of interest (as this federal bill builds on what your state already requires). To learn if your state does, see the Find It Early Act Fact Sheet (above) or this MAP (a “diamond” indicates that state has an expanded insurance law, click on the state name to learn details).
• Manners matter! Your congressperson is busy and has many demands on their time. Do send a thank you note or email after the meeting and certainly acknowledge if your congressperson has agreed to cosponsor the bill.
• Am I done? If the congressperson would like more information or has indicated that they will consider your request, certainly follow up and check in. Contact Us if you have any questions.

To co-sponsor the Find It Early Act, your congressperson should contact the office of Rep. Rosa DeLauro or Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick.