[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 19]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 25589]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




INTRODUCTION OF THE OSTEOPOROSIS EARLY DETECTION AND PREVENTION ACT OF 
                                  2009

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 22, 2009

  Mrs. MALONEY. Madam Speaker, today I am reintroducing bipartisan 
legislation, the Osteoporosis Early Detection and Prevention Act of 
2009, along with my friend and colleague from West Virginia, 
Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito.
  The Osteoporosis Early Detection and Prevention Act of 2009 will 
require private insurance plans to cover bone density testing for 
individuals most likely to develop osteoporosis. This bill will ensure 
that the individuals most likely to develop the disease will have 
access to screening tests, which could both improve health outcomes and 
save significant amounts of money.
  Forty-four million Americans either suffer from osteoporosis or are 
at risk of developing it. One of every two American women and one of 
four American men, aged 50 or older, will suffer a bone fracture 
because of osteoporosis. This means that osteoporosis causes 1.5 
million broken bones every year.
  Osteoporosis has no symptoms and cannot be detected by an ordinary X-
ray until 25 to 40 percent of bone mass has already been lost. As bone 
mass decreases, the risk of fractures increases exponentially. The 
disease is usually not diagnosed until a fracture occurs--but by then, 
the disease is so advanced that another fracture is extremely likely.
  While there is currently no cure for osteoporosis, there are 
effective and inexpensive techniques both to detect and prevent. A bone 
density screening is non-invasive, painless, and reliable. If 
osteoporosis is diagnosed early, drug therapy can reduce the risk of 
hip and spine fractures by 50 percent. The screening test costs, on 
average, between $59 and $300--compared to the more than $35,000 it 
would cost to repair a hip fracture.
  I believe that when we can improve health and save money at the same 
time, we should do just that. By requiring private health insurance 
plans to cover bone density screenings for the men and women who are 
most at risk for osteoporosis, we can prevent millions of painful hard-
to-treat, costly, and completely unnecessary injuries.

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