Aguirre, Alvarado-Ponce, Maldonado 1

Erica Aguirre
Manaury Alvarado-Ponce
Vivian Maldonado
Professor Killingsworth
TX GOVT BLENDED- 2306-51050
November 05, 2015
Students for the Prevention of Ovarian Cancer
Background of the Bill
Ovarian cancer is usually undetected until it has spread from the ovaries to the pelvis and
abdomen. It is the 5th leading cause of cancer deaths because by the time it is detected it is
already in its late stages and more difficult to treat. In order to detect and treat ovarian cancer in
its early stages, people must understand the risk factors, causes, and symptoms. In 2000,
Congress in Atlanta Ga. created the Ovarian Cancer Control Initiative (OCCI) to fund early
detection and improving treatment. OCCI was able to raise $4.9 million for further research. In
2005, HR 1245 Gynecologic Cancer Education and Awareness Act was introduced and it was
signed by the President and enacted in 2007; this allowed for up to $16.5 million for cancer
awareness through public service announcements. This law made campaigns to educate women
and health care providers on ovarian cancer and its symptoms, which are often missed or
misdiagnosed.
Six people played an important role in the passing of HB 2813. There are five authors of
HB 2813 who filed the bill and guided it through the legislative process until it was passed. The
main author is Representative Ken King, District 88. The other authors of the bill are
Representative Kyle Kacal, District 12; Representative Sefronia Thomson, District 141;

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Representative John Frullo, District 84; and Representative John Serwas, District 28. Four of
the five authors of this bill are Republicans with the exception of Ms. Sefronia Thompson, who
is a Democrat. Senator Kevin Eltife, District 1, is the sponsor of this bill; he was the one who
guided the bill once it passed the original chamber.
Some of the other bills that these representatives have passed are similar to HB 2813,
regarding the screening for ovarian cancer in a womans insurance plan. Representative Kyle
Kacal is author of other bills regarding medical treatment and insurance. He was author of HB
2809, regarding the creation of health care provider programs. He was also an author of HB 21,
relating to allowing patients with a terminal illness to take certain drugs. Representative John
Frullo has been a part of a few other laws dealing with insurance and discount health care
programs. He was the author of HB 3028, concerning discount health care programs on
prescription drugs. John Serwas has been an author of many bills relating to the health of
people. He was an author of HB 2641, which deals with the exchange of health information in
Texas; HB 3519, which relates to Medicaid; and HB 1762, which deals with the creation of a
health care program for veterans.
The authors of the bill are interested in health care and have very strong reason behind
why they chose to introduce this issue to the legislature. Representative Ken King is very
passionate about this topic because his mother had ovarian cancer. Representative Kyle Kacals
mother also had ovarian cancer at the same time of Kings mother in 2013. Both of their mothers
passed away and they decided to start an ovarian cancer foundation, which led to the introduction
of HB 2813. Their goal was to increase early detection because ovarian cancer was known as the
silent killer due to the fact that women are diagnosed when it is too late for treatment. Ken
Kings mothers treatment for 2 years was around 2 million dollars and he believes that a

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screening for ovarian cancer will end up making the price for treatment decrease. If ovarian
cancer is detected in the first stage, it can be treated and maybe even cured for under $100
thousand.
Components of the Bill
HB 2813 is designed to promote early detection of ovarian cancer because the earlier a
woman is diagnosed, the easier it is to treat it. Ovarian cancer affects many women, but they
know little about it. It is hard to detect this type of cancer because the symptoms are very
common and they are usually mistaken for other conditions. The authors of the bill want to
educate the public on the risks of ovarian cancer and the ways women can get tested. They hope
that in five to ten years ovarian cancer will be as well-known as breast cancer. It will no longer
be the silent killer with a mortality rate of 80%, but will rather be diagnosed early when it is
treatable. HB 2813 states that a womans insurance plan requires an annual diagnostic
examination for early detection of ovarian cancer to every women 18 years or older; this includes
a CA 125 blood test and a Pap smear screening.
The bill will not be funded by the state. Based on the information that was provided
when the bill was in the process of becoming a law, the staff could accomplish the goal of the bill
with existing resources. When it was first introduced into the legislature, the fiscal note was
$39,600. The Texas Department of Insurance proposed that insurers pay $100 for revenue gain.
The original fiscal policy stated that local government would not have an impact on HB 2813.
The second fiscal note had very similar ideas of how the bill would be funded, but the final fiscal
note was entirely different than the other two. The fiscal note will not have an impact on the
state budget because the state will not provide any help for the funding of this bill. It will solely
be supported by the current staff and use the current resources.

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There are many interest groups that support the bill. The main author of the bill, Ken
King, teamed up with Kyle Kacal and formed the KK 125 Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation.
This interest group was formed in January 2014 and was influenced by three women whose lives
were shortened because of ovarian cancer. The main goal of this interest group is to raise
awareness. Although cancer screening being included in health insurance will be very beneficial,
there are some interest groups that are against HB 2813, such as The U.S. Preventive Services
Task Force. The USPSTF discourages screening for ovarian cancer in women. The researchers
believe that there are no benefits in getting a screening, because even though the mortality rate is
high the disease is not very common.
State Comparison
After doing some research, we have found that the state of Maryland has a similar house
bill. House bill 670 of the 2003 regular session states that all insurance carriers, nonprofit health
service plans, and health maintenance organizations shall provide coverage for the expense of
conducting a CA-125 serum tumor marker test for the purpose of screening for ovarian cancer.
House bill 670 was first introduced and read on February 7, 2003; authors of this bill include (D)
Shane E. Pendergrass, (D) Charles E. Barkley, (D) Kumar P. Brave and (D) Elizabeth Bobo. The
bill was passed and became effective as of October 1, 2003. There was a positive reaction from
the public, as this bill was a step forward in womens health for Maryland.
The National Ovarian Cancer Coalition (NOCC) of Maryland is one of the main
advocates who supported house bill 670. NOCC is a national advocacy group that has chapters in
all fifty states. They are an organization who promote and expand patient, public and
professional education about ovarian cancer. The local levels of the NOCC are run by volunteers
that consist of patients, family members, and caregivers that are all in some way affected by

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ovarian cancer. This organization provides education on ovarian cancer; it provides support for
women and their families who have been recently diagnosed. NOCC provides research and
current news and events that involve ovarian cancer; they also give fundraising tips as well. Just
like in Texas, there was no organization that was against this house bill; this is a bill were one
will not see many or any for that matter organizations that are against this bill. House Bill 670
and House Bill 2813 are bills that support womens health and there are not many people who
are against this issue.
Two similarities between the Texas House Bill 2813 and the Maryland House Bill 670 are
they were both intendent for the wellbeing of womens health. They both were also passed to
make sure that the insurance companies cover the CA-125 blood test, which is used to test the
early detection of ovarian cancer. There are not to many differences between the two bills; the
only thing we could tell is that the Texas House Bill 2813 limits the CA-125 test to 18 year olds
and older. The Texas House Bill also includes a conventional Pap smear screening or a screening
using liquid-based cytology methods that is approved by the US FDA. House Bill 670 had a
positive effect on Maryland; it allows women to get an early detection on ovarian cancer, and it
allows women not to suffer the silent killer.
Journey of the Bill Through the Legislative Process
House Bill 2813 is a bill relating to health benefit plan coverage for ovarian cancer
screening. The bill was first filed on March 10, 2015 and it was first introduced to the House of
Representatives. House Bill 2813 was approved by the House of Representatives on April 22,
2015 and was approved by the Senate on May 13, 2015. It officially became a law on May 28,
2015, but wasnt effective until September 2015. The bill has many authors, which include Kyle
Kacal, Senfronia Thompson, John Frullo, and John Zerwas, but the primary author of House Bill

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2813 is Ken King. The house committee was Insurance. The ayes were nine; the nays were zero.
Present not voting in the house was zero, as well as the absence of members. For the senate
committee, it was business and commerce. The ayes for senate were six, while the nays were
two. Members who were present not voting were zero in the senate, but there was one absence.
The final passage for House Bill 2813 were 129 yes votes and eight votes for no. Twelve of
the votes were marked under the category other. The governor signed House Bill 2813 on May
28, 2015. The bill was finally effective September 01, 2015.
Group Analysis and Plan of Action
We believe House Bill 2813 will greatly impact the state of Texas. This bill allows
women to get an early detection of ovarian cancer. This bill will surely save the lives of many
women. Students for the Prevention of Ovarian Cancer is for HB 2813. Our advocacy group
believes that women should be educated about the symptoms and risks that come with ovarian
cancer. Informing women on the symptoms of ovarian cancer might increase early detection and
make the doctor be able to give better treatment. Just like the authors of the bill, we hope that in
the future ovarian cancer will be as well-known as breast cancer. Even though ovarian cancer is
the eighth most common type of cancer and the fifth leading cause of cancer death, women do
not know the risk of this disease. It is usually detected in its late stages, where the survival rate
is so low so women have at very high risk of death. Another reason that our advocacy group is
for the bill is because we have confidence that including cancer screenings in a womans
insurance plan will increase the likelihood of her getting tested and eventually increase the
amount of ovarian cancer survivors. In 2012, 14,404 out of the 20,785 women who were
diagnosed with ovarian cancer in the United States died. We hope that the percentage of death
from ovarian cancer decreases once it becomes common for women to get tested for ovarian

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cancer. We are for HB 2813 because we feel that a woman should not be prevented from getting
a cancer screening simply because she cannot afford it. In the long run, getting tested early will
be much cheaper than being diagnosed with ovarian cancer in its late stage. Ovarian cancer can
be cured in stage 1 for around $100,000. When it is found in its later stages, the cost of one
treatment for ovarian cancer can go up to $200,000. Students for the Prevention of Ovarian
Cancer is for HB 2813 because we believe that women should be well informed, it will decrease
the number of deaths, and it will also make the cost of insurance decrease. Since House Bill 2813
was passed, we believe it does not stop there. There are many things that lawmakers, government
agencies, and other institutions can still do. For instance, lawmakers could make a huge
difference in the prevention of ovarian cancer by supporting funding for ovarian cancer research,
as well as for supporting genetic testing, which will not only prevent ovarian cancer but other
diseases and cancers. This particular research perhaps will not help people immediately, but it
will in the long run. Also, lawmakers can help support laws for trials to help prevent ovarian
cancer, and can hopefully find a cure to end this horrible disease. Additionally, government
agencies can also play a great role in this prevention. Government agencies can help in the actual
promotion of prevention. Certain agencies can carry out news via television commercials
nationwide, while other agencies can also help promote prevention by holding events just like
events for HIV/AIDS prevention. Getting the word out is crucial and can make a tremendous
difference, since a lot of families are not aware of prevention methods. Not to mention, other
institutions can also help in the next big step. For instance, The American Cancer Society should
be able to come up with a program that will help low income individuals to get major surgeries
like tubal ligations, hysterectomies, and salpingectomies. These surgeries will help women who
already have ovarian cancer or have a strong family history of it. Even clinics like Planned

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Parenthood can help prevention by recommending oral contraceptives to women who could more
than likely develop this cancer due to genetics. Studies have shown that women who have used
oral contraceptives for at least five years have a fifty-percent chance of not developing ovarian
cancer later in life.

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"General Assembly." BILL INFO-2003 Regular Session-HB 670. N.P., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2015.

H.R. H.B 2813, Texas State Capitol 4 (2015) (enacted). Print. Author Ken King

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"Texas Legislative Guide | The Texas Tribune." The Texas Tribune. N.P., n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2015.

"Texas Legislature Online - 84(R) History for HB 2813." Texas Legislature Online - 84(R)
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