Dear Editor:
Back in January as part of his State of the State address, New Jersey Governor James E. McGreevey first proposed legislation to require insurance companies to cover mammograms for women under 40 years of age who have a family history of breast cancer.
Since then, the Governor, with the support of female Cabinet members and Legislators, has been working with women’s health advocates to get the bill passed. And last week, A2216/S862 was signed into law by Governor McGreevey.
I support and applaud this as the passing of this law will mean that thousands of New Jersey’s women will be able to catch a potentially life-threatening disease before it has a chance to take hold. It is the American Cancer Society’s estimation that 7400 cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed in New Jersey this year and that New Jersey actually has the highest mortality rate in the nation for breast cancer.
As the Governor stated last week, “No woman should have to fight with her insurance company to cover this potentially life-saving test. This law makes sure that no woman in this state will ever have to face that fight again.”
The women that will potentially be saved by the effects of this law are our mothers, grandmothers, sisters and wives, and Governor McGreevey should be praised for the effort that he put in to get this bill passed into law. Brian P. Stack
Mayor/Assemblyman, 33rd Legislative District