McCreight’s Health Insurance Bill Earns Committee Approval

AUGUSTA, Maine, Feb. 1 -- The Maine House Democrats issued the following news release:

A bill sponsored by Rep. Jay McCreight to codify essential preventative health benefits into Maine law earned unanimous support Tuesday from the Legislature's Insurance and Financial Services Committee.

"By making sure our health plans include essential preventative services, we offer the best protection we can for individuals by contributing to their economic and personal success, to the health of their families, to the health of our communities, and we lower the human and economic damage that ill health brings," said McCreight, D-Harpswell.

McCreight's measure would bring Maine in line with federal law by requiring that health coverage include essential preventative services. The bill would ensure that these services continue to be covered in Maine regardless of potential changes at the federal level.

According to the American Cancer Society, early detection can lead to an increased life expectancy of multiple years.

"Most important to cancer prevention is the bill's requirement for coverage of all services given an A or B rating by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, or USPSTF," said Hilary Schneider, the director of government relations for the Maine chapter of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network. "This includes preventative and early detection screening for colorectal cancer, early detection screening for breast cancer, and preventive and early detection screening for cervical cancer. Access to these tests saves lives."

The measure, LD 1476, faces further votes in the House and Senate.

McCreight, a member of the Legislature's Judiciary and Health and Human Services Committees, is serving her second term in the Maine House. She represents Harpswell, West Bath and part of Brunswick.