Late last year, the Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee, chaired by Assemblyman Roy Freiman (D-Hillsborough), cleared a bill expanding requirements for health insurance coverage of regular prostate cancer screenings. The bill languished \u2014 the whole Assembly didn\u2019t act on the legislation, and it expired near the end of Gov. Phil Murphy\u2019s tenure.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This year, the bill is back, and this time, it\u2019s personal for Freiman.<\/p>\n
Last week, Freiman cast the final yes vote that once again cleared the bill from the Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee, but not before he made a personal announcement: he\u2019s facing prostate cancer himself.<\/p>\n
\u201cEarly detection gives people choices in their treatment, Freiman said. \u201cTwo weeks ago, I was diagnosed with prostate cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Experts say that as many as 1 in 8 men get prostate cancer at some point, and the vast majority of cases occur among men 55 and older. Many cases of prostate cancer grow rarely or not at all, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, meaning 98% of patients are still living 5 years later. But cases not caught early can morph into a metastatic version of the cancer, from which the survival rate drops<\/a> to about 38%.<\/p>\n At the hearing, Freiman said a main goal of the legislation is to allow men better access to early diagnoses, and thus more options for their treatment if diagnosed.<\/p>\n \u201cThe good news is we believe we caught it early, and so now I\u2019m in the process of, what are my options, what are my choices?\u201d Freiman said of his own diagnosis at the hearing. \u201cAnd I believe I have a lot in front of me. And as one of my friends who\u2019s been through this has said, you know, it\u2019s good to have choices, and when the doctors start taking away choices, that\u2019s when you\u2019re in trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n Some cases can be caught with prostate-specific antigen (PSA) tests during a routine blood check, though a biopsy is eventually needed to confirm the case. Freiman said his case was caught because of slightly high PSA levels during a routine physical, and subsequent MRIs and biopsies confirmed it was a case of cancer.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was purely because of this diagnostic pre-screening routine, and we got it early,\u201d Freiman told the New Jersey Globe. \u201cWe believe my prognosis is very favorable. I feel fortunate.\u201d<\/p>\n Now, he hopes this bill can help do the same for other New Jerseyans.<\/p>\n