Albany, N.Y. (AP) — New York's newest laws include one that will require health insurance to cover reconstructive surgery after partial mastectomies.
Health insurers in New York must already cover the cost of reconstructive surgery after a full mastectomy.
Sen. Kenneth Lavalle of Suffolk County says partial mastectomies are the most common form of breast cancer surgery and women need to have the procedure covered.
Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos says the coverage is necessary because of advances in medical technology that are making partial mastectomies possible when full mastectomies were once required.
Lavalle is a Republican who sponsored the bill with Democratic Assemblywoman Vivien Cook of Queens.
There was no estimate of how much the law might cost health insurers or policy holders.
