TRENTON- Senator Loretta Weinberg today slammed Republican gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie for pushing a plan for “mandate-free” policies that would allow insurance companies to drop coverage for mammograms from women’s health care plans across New Jersey.
“If we don’t require insurance companies to cover mammograms, they won’t. Period. That is why we battled against the big insurance companies to enact these mandates in the first place,” said Weinberg. “The American Cancer Society helped lead the fight for the mammogram mandate because mammograms are a crucial defense against an insidious disease. Mr. Christie is either lying or he fails to understand the implications of his own policies. Either way, he has once again shown that he is wrong when it matters most.”
In 1991, New Jersey enacted a law mandating that insurance companies cover annual mammograms for every woman age 40 and older. Insurance companies opposed the law, saying they should not be forced to pay for mammograms. The American Cancer Society supported the law.
In 2004, Weinberg sponsored a bill that strengthened the law, requiring insurance companies to also cover mammograms for women under 40 who have a family history of breast cancer. Again, the American Cancer Society supported the measure, while insurance companies fought to block it, arguing that they – not physicians – should have the final say over who gets mammograms.
Although this program has achieved broad bi-partisan support, Christie has repeatedly said he would allow insurance companies to offer mandate-free policies, going so far as to make it a key point on his campaign website. Facing heavy criticism, Christie recently launched what Star-Ledger columnist Tom Moran called a “sloppy retreat from an unpopular position.” Christie’s ads now claim that under his plan no woman would be denied a mammogram and that giving insurance companies free reign to drop mammograms would actually result in more mammograms for women. He has failed to substantiate either claim, and health experts say Christie’s plan would effectively repeal the mandates.
“This is very personal for me. My mom was diagnosed with cancer at 54 and passed away at 56. At 28, my doctor found a lump in my breast that was thankfully benign. I now have a 25 year old daughter and am thankful that there are mandates in place for her to get a mammogram. Governor Corzine is right on this issue. We cannot back down when it comes to women’s health issues,” said Assemblywoman Connie Wagner.
"To take these issues and revisit them is to take New Jersey back. We stood up and fought the battles against these insurance companies This is not the time to retreat. There is no willingness to move back when it comes to supporting initiatives that support healthy families and healthy women,” said Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman.
