Ohio lawmakers don’t often agree on much, but on one important issue there was bipartisan support, as House Bill 371 made some changes that could save women’s lives. Reps. Sedrick Denson, D-Cincinnati, and Jean Schmidt, R-Loveland, introduced the bill, which focuses on early detection as the key to beating cancer.

In this case, the new law will mean any woman, regardless of age or risk factor can get a yearly mammogram without having to worry about insurance, according to a report by TV station WCMH. It also will expand supplemental coverage for those women who need a different kind of screening.

“If she has dense breast tissue, we know it is very difficult to find tumors in dense breasts. She now has the opportunity to talk to her doctor about getting an MRI, an ultrasound or any future technologies available,” Schmidt said. “This is life altering for every woman in the state of Ohio.”

National Cancer Institute data shows female breast cancer represents 15 percent of all new cancer cases in the U.S.

But, again, screening can make all the difference if those cancers are caught early enough for treatment to be successful.

“What we realized is that every day we were losing a mother, a friend, a sister, someone we knew in our community,” Denson told WCMH. “And what we found out is through updates (in) technology we could prevent that.”

Lawmakers who came together to support HB 371 are to be commended for their effort to help ALL Ohio women be proactive in seeking these life-saving preventive measures.

editorial@vindy.com