[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 21 (Wednesday, February 14, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E187]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E187]]
   OSTEOPOROSIS FEDERAL EMPLOYEE HEALTH BENEFITS STANDARDIZATION ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CONSTANCE A. MORELLA

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 14, 2001

  Mrs. MORELLA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce the Osteoporosis 
Federal Employee Health Benefits Standardization Act of 2001. This much 
needed legislation will provide the same consistency of osteoporosis 
coverage for our Federal employees and retirees as Congress approved 
for Medicare in the Balanced Budget Act of 1997.
  Instead of a comprehensive national coverage policy, FEHBP leaves it 
to each of the over 350 participating plans to decide who is eligible 
to receive a bone mass measurement and what constitutes medical 
necessity. A survey of the 19 top plans participating in FEHBP indicate 
that many plans have no specific rules to guide reimbursement and 
instead cover the tests on a case-by-case basis. Several plans refuse 
to provide consumers information indicating when the plan covers the 
test and when it does not. Some plans cover the test only for people 
who already have osteoporosis. All individuals, whether they work in 
the public sector or private sector, should have health insurance 
coverage for osteoporosis screening because this affliction is so 
widespread but more importantly, because it is preventable when 
discovered early.
  Osteoporosis is a major public health problem affecting 28 million 
Americans, who either have the disease or are at risk due to low bone 
mass; eighty percent are women. The disease causes 1.5 million 
fractures annually at a cost of $13.8 billion ($38 million per day) in 
direct medical expenses, and osteoporotic fractures cost the Medicare 
program 3 percent of its overall costs. In their lifetimes, one in two 
women and one in eight men over the age of 50 will fracture a bone due 
to osteoporosis. A woman's risk of a hip fracture is equal to her 
combined risk of contracting breast, uterine, and ovarian cancer.
  Osteoporosis is largely preventable and thousands of fractures could 
be avoided if low bone mass was detected early and treated. We now have 
drugs that promise to reduce fractures by 50 percent. However, 
identification of risk factors alone cannot predict how much bone a 
person has and how strong bone is. Experts estimate that without bone 
density tests, up to 40 percent of women with low bone mass could be 
missed.
  It Is my hope that by making bone mass measurements available under 
the FEHBP, we can minimize the deleterious effects of osteoporosis and 
improve the lives of our Federal employees and retirees.

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