[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1840 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1840

 To amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize and improve the 
National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program for fiscal 
            years 2024 through 2028, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              June 7, 2023

 Ms. Baldwin (for herself, Ms. Collins, Ms. Cortez Masto, Mrs. Capito, 
and Ms. Klobuchar) introduced the following bill; which was read twice 
and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize and improve the 
National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program for fiscal 
            years 2024 through 2028, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Screening for Communities to Receive 
Early and Equitable Needed Services for Cancer Act of 2023'' or the 
``SCREENS for Cancer Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) In 2023, there will be more than 300,590 new cases of 
        invasive breast cancer and nearly 44,000 breast cancer deaths 
        in the United States.
            (2) In 2023, there will be about 13,960 new cases of 
        invasive cervical cancer and about 4,310 deaths from cervical 
        cancer.
            (3) Black women have the highest breast, cervical, and 
        uterine cancer death rates of all racial and ethnic groups and 
        are more likely to be diagnosed with triple-negative breast 
        cancer, a more aggressive form of cancer.
            (4) Research shows that the COVID-19 pandemic was 
        associated with a decline of more than 3,900,000 breast cancer 
        screenings in 2020, as compared to 2019. Similarly, cervical 
        cancer screening utilization dropped by 90 percent in April 
        2020, relative to the prior year.
            (5) Research suggests that those postponed breast 
        screenings appeared to disproportionately affect women of 
        color: Non-Hispanic White women had 17 percent fewer breast 
        cancer diagnoses, while the year-over-year decline was 53 
        percent for Asian women, 43 percent for Hispanic women, and 27 
        percent for Black women.
            (6) The National Cancer Institute estimates that pandemic-
        related disruptions or delays in breast care and screening are 
        expected to result in an excess of 2,500 breast cancer deaths 
        by 2030.
            (7) Since its creation in 1991, the National Breast and 
        Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (referred to in this 
        section as the ``NBCCEDP'') has provided lifesaving cancer 
        screening and diagnostic services to low-income, uninsured, or 
        underinsured women in all 50 States, the District of Columbia, 
        6 territories, and 13 Tribes or Tribal organizations.
            (8) NBCCEDP seeks to reduce inequities in breast and 
        cervical cancer screening and diagnosis, placing special 
        emphasis on outreach to women who are members of racial or 
        ethnic minority groups, and those who are geographically or 
        culturally isolated.
            (9) NBCCEDP has served more than 6,100,000 people and 
        provided more than 15,700,000 breast and cervical cancer 
        screening examinations.
            (10) These screening exams have diagnosed nearly 76,000 
        invasive breast cancers and more than 24,000 premalignant 
        breast lesions, as well as more than 5,100 invasive cervical 
        cancers and 235,000 premalignant cervical lesions, of which 39 
        percent were high-grade.
            (11) The program also provides public education, outreach, 
        patient navigation, and care coordination to increase breast 
        and cervical cancer screening rates and reach underserved 
        populations.
            (12) Reauthorizing NBCCEDP will result in expanded 
        services, leading to more people being screened and more 
        cancers diagnosed at earlier stages.

SEC. 3. NATIONAL BREAST AND CERVICAL CANCER EARLY DETECTION PROGRAM.

    Title XV of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300k et seq.) 
is amended--
            (1) in section 1501 (42 U.S.C. 300k)--
                    (A) in subsection (a)--
                            (i) in paragraph (2), by striking ``the 
                        provision of appropriate follow-up services and 
                        support services such as case management'' and 
                        inserting ``that appropriate follow-up services 
                        are provided'';
                            (ii) in paragraph (3), by striking 
                        ``programs for the detection and control'' and 
                        inserting ``for the prevention, detection, and 
                        control'';
                            (iii) in paragraph (4), by striking ``the 
                        detection and control'' and inserting ``the 
                        prevention, detection, and control'';
                            (iv) in paragraph (5)--
                                    (I) by striking ``monitor'' and 
                                inserting ``ensure''; and
                                    (II) by striking ``; and'' and 
                                inserting a semicolon;
                            (v) by redesignating paragraph (6) as 
                        paragraph (9);
                            (vi) by inserting after paragraph (5), the 
                        following:
            ``(6) to enhance appropriate support activities to increase 
        breast and cervical cancer screening such as patient 
        navigation, implementation of evidence-based or evidence-
        informed strategies proven to increase breast and cervical 
        cancer screening in health care settings, and facilitating 
        access to health care settings;
            ``(7) to reduce disparities in incidents of and deaths due 
        to breast and cervical cancer in populations with higher than 
        average rates;
            ``(8) to ensure equitable access to screening and 
        diagnostic services and improve access for individuals who 
        encounter additional barriers to receiving services, including 
        due to various social determinants of health; and''; and
                            (vii) in paragraph (9), as so redesignated, 
                        by striking ``through (5)'' and inserting 
                        ``through (8)''; and
                    (B) by striking subsection (d);
            (2) in section 1503 (42 U.S.C. 300m)--
                    (A) in subsection (a)--
                            (i) in paragraph (1), by striking ``that, 
                        initially'' and all that follows through the 
                        semicolon and inserting ``that appropriate 
                        breast and cervical cancer screening and 
                        diagnostic services are provided based on 
                        national recommendations; and'';
                            (ii) by striking paragraphs (2) and (4);
                            (iii) by redesignating paragraph (3) as 
                        paragraph (2); and
                            (iv) in paragraph (2), as so redesignated, 
                        by striking ``; and'' and inserting a period; 
                        and
                    (B) by striking subsection (d);
            (3) in section 1508(b) (42 U.S.C. 300n-4(b))--
                    (A) by striking ``1 year after the date of the 
                enactment of the National Breast and Cervical Cancer 
                Early Detection Program Reauthorization of 2007, and 
                annually thereafter,'' and inserting ``2 years after 
                the date of enactment of the Screening for Communities 
                to Receive Early and Equitable Needed Services for 
                Cancer Act of 2023, and every 5 years thereafter,'';
                    (B) by striking ``Labor and Human Resources'' and 
                inserting ``Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions''; 
                and
                    (C) by striking ``preceding fiscal year'' and 
                inserting ``preceding 2 fiscal years in the case of the 
                first report after the date of enactment of the 
                Screening for Communities to Receive Early and 
                Equitable Needed Services for Cancer Act of 2023 and 
                preceding 5 fiscal years for each report thereafter''; 
                and
            (4) in section 1510(a) (42 U.S.C. 300n-5(a))--
                    (A) by striking ``and'' after ``2011,''; and
                    (B) by inserting ``, $275,000,000 for fiscal year 
                2024, $330,000,000 for fiscal year 2025, $385,000,000 
                for fiscal year 2026, $440,000,000 for fiscal year 
                2027, and $500,000,000 for fiscal year 2028'' before 
                the period at the end.
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