[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 82 (Tuesday, May 16, 2023)]
[House]
[Page H2373]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1430
                      CANCER SCREENINGS SAVE LIVES

  (Mr. PAYNE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss the Colorectal Cancer 
Payment Fairness Act. It is a bill that I reintroduced today to include 
more colorectal screenings. Everyone knows that cancer screenings save 
lives.
  My bill provides Medicare beneficiaries with complete coverage for 
cancer treatments performed during routine screenings by the end of 
this year.
  Right now screenings are covered but treatments are not, so patients 
can wake up after the procedure with a surprise medical bill upwards of 
$2,000.
  Colorectal cancer is one of the deadliest cancers that we have, but 
it has one of the highest survival rates, if detected and treated 
early.
  Too many Americans put off routine cancer screenings because they 
feel fine and worry about coverage. That can be a life-threatening 
decision.
  This issue is very personal to me. I lost my father, the honorable 
and respected Congressman Donald Payne, Sr., to colorectal cancer in 
2012. I don't want other families to lose their fathers and loved ones 
because they did not get screened regularly.

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