It’s known fact that colorectal cancer screening saves lives. If my father had a colonoscopy when he was 50 (in 1992), he might be the one typing this blog post instead of dying of the disease. Instead, he was told “well, your insurance probably won’t cover it.” Times have changed and now his insurance company would be REQUIRED to cover the screening.

The Senate is currently considering a bill that if passed, would preempt state-level life-saving insurance legislation in favor of the short-term savings for small businesses.

The bill is S1955, the Health Insurance Marketplace Modernization & Affordability Act of 2005.

Here’s the part that has our hackles up:

Requires the Secretary to establish the Commission on Health Insurance Standards Harmonization to develop recommendations that harmonize inconsistent state health insurance laws in accordance with the laws adopted in a plurality of the states. Provides that any harmonized standards adopted by the Secretary will supersede state laws related to the areas covered by the harmonized standards.

Only 23 states have legislation requiring insurance companies to cover colorectal cancer screening. A “plurality of the states” means no coverage at all! Advocates have worked hard to get that coverage in those 23 states and they’re working to get it in the other states…we can’t let this bill take all that hard work away. Sure, colonoscopies are expensive for insurance companies…but they save lives and cost less than colon cancer treatment in the long run.

C3 has joined a large and growing coalition of organizations that are working to make sure this bill does not get voted as written. We are fighting a large lobby of small business owners who may or may not know what it’s like to lose someone they love to cancer.

We have a very easy way of letting you send a message to your Senator, letting them know that state-level legislation is there for a reason. They can’t take it away. We have to work together and quickly to raise a very loud voice.

Click this link to take action on the C3 site.

Thanks for your time!