NY to extend mammogram clinic hours
ALBANY - Many New York breast cancer screening clinics will be required to extend their hours under a deal struck Sunday by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and top lawmakers.
A soon-to-be-passed bill will require 210 hospitals and hospital extension clinics to open their doors for four additional morning, evening or weekend hours each week for screenings, while insurers would be prohibited from charging co-pays for mammograms.
Cuomo, Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie announced their support for the measures Sunday morning.
The governor has pushed for added breast cancer prevention measures over the past six months after his longtime partner, Food Network star Sandra Lee, was diagnosed with the disease last year. She has since been declared cancer-free.
"I can't tell you how many women have said, 'I just can't get there because I have to work, I have to take care of the kids,'" Cuomo told reporters Sunday ahead of the Puerto Rican Day Parade in Manhattan. "We're going to increase clinic hours for mammograms."
The agreement comes as the Legislature prepares for the final week of its annual session at the Capitol, when lawmakers and their staff negotiate numerous last-minute deals and a flurry of bills are passed.
The session is scheduled to end Thursday.
The planned breast cancer bill was detailed by Cuomo and was expected to be announced later this week.
According to the governor's office, the 210 hospitals and hospital extensions would be required to add four weekly hours of operation during specific times: 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on a weekday, or between 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday or Sunday.
Insurers, meanwhile, would be prohibited from applying a deductible, co-pay or co-insurance payments to any mammogram screening, even if the screenings are more frequent than recommended in federal guidelines.
"I am pleased that we have reached a three-way agreement to reaffirm the state's commitment to giving women the chance to live a long and healthy life," Flanagan, R-Suffolk County, said in a statement.