Low dose, or 3-D mammograms, will be required by law as of Jan. 1, 2018.
A new law passed by the 85th Texas Legislature earlier this year requires insurance companies that deliver, issue or renew any health benefit plan covering any woman  35 years or older to include an annual screening by all forms of low-dose mammography for the presence of breast cancer. The mandated benefit must be provided at no extra charge.
The 3-D technology, technically known as digital tomosynthesis, or digital mammography, is much more advanced than 2-D technology. Most important, it provides a more precise diagnosis since it yields a better picture of the blood vessels, mammary glands and early signs of cancer. That picture allows the radiologist to look at various slices of the tissue at different angles without the need for painful biopsies.
Another aspect of 3-D technology is it is more accurate when screening women with particularly dense breast tissue. Three-D not only reduces the recall rates and false positives that were typical with 2-D, it also is able to find small abnormalities, which often went unnoticed in the 2-D scans.
Those advances result in savings to commercial insurers, perhaps as much as $20.6 million per year, by avoiding costs associated with follow-up visits and biopsies, according to advocates of the law.
Some insurance plans, such as Cigna, Blue Cross/Blue Shield and United Healthcare already covered the 3-D mammograms before the law passed. The new law mandates coverage by all health plans in Texas.
Since the law covers only women who are insured, it doesn’t benefit everyone. Uninsured women, for example, will not be affected. Also, the law does not cover all patients in Texas with Medicare (which covers both 2-D and 3-D mammograms) or Medicaid (which only covers 2-D mammograms).
A breast cancer survivor, Rep. Senfronia Thompson (D-Houston), sponsored House Bill 1036. It was signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott on June 15.
In passing this law, Texas joins seven other states that have passed similar laws:  Arkansas, Connecticut, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.