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 — the whole Assembly didn’t act on the legislation, and it expired near the end of Gov. Phil Murphy’s tenure.
This year, the bill is back, and this time, it’s personal for Freiman.
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’s facing prostate cancer himself.
“Early detection gives people choices in their treatment, Freiman said. “Two weeks ago, I was diagnosed with prostate cancer.”
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 to about 38%.
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.
“The good news is we believe we caught it early, and so now I’m in the process of, what are my options, what are my choices?” Freiman said of his own diagnosis at the hearing. “And I believe I have a lot in front of me. And as one of my friends who’s been through this has said, you know, it’s good to have choices, and when the doctors start taking away choices, that’s when you’re in trouble.”
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.
“It was purely because of this diagnostic pre-screening routine, and we got it early,” Freiman told the New Jersey Globe. “We believe my prognosis is very favorable. I feel fortunate.”
Now, he hopes this bill can help do the same for other New Jerseyans.
The bill, A1142, would require providers and insurers to cover annual prostate screenings without passing the cost onto the patient. Some representatives of the business community expressed concern that the bill would increase costs in the healthcare industry, but Freiman said the early detections would ultimately save patients in the long run. Assemblyman Joe Danielsen (D-Franklin) and Assemblywoman Verlina Reynolds-Jackson (D-Trenton) are the bill’s prime sponsors.
“Catching any of these significant diseases early, from a cost-benefit analysis, is a clear benefit,” Freiman said. “So if you look at it from managing health care costs, if you can catch a disease early, in the [purely] economic spreadsheet analysis, it makes sense.”
The legislation still has a long way to go, including through the state Senate’s committees and through the Assembly writ large. When Freiman was asked whether he thinks the bill would be signed into law?
“I am going to be extremely motivated to see that happen.”