Mecklenburg lawmaker reveals breast cancer diagnosis, pushes for screening bill
A Mecklenburg County lawmaker revealed her breast cancer diagnosis on Wednesday while advocating for a bill to require insurance companies to provide further screening coverage for the disease.
Rep. Laura Budd of Matthews, a Democrat whose district includes Pineville, said she was diagnosed last fall and has since undergone a mastectomy and reconstructive surgery.
Her routine mammogram, which was mostly covered by insurance, required a follow-up exam. That screening, which confirmed her diagnosis, came with a $790 co-pay.
“I was very fortunate that I was able to pay for it and receive that care,” she said during a press conference. “Having said that, I cannot imagine what it would be like to be confronted with that kind of news and then told that in order to understand better what was happening — what was necessary and required for medical diagnosis and treatment — that not only did I require this, but now I can’t afford it. And that is why this bill is so critically important.”
House Bill 297, which Budd stumped for alongside breast cancer advocates and a bipartisan group of fellow lawmakers on Wednesday, would ensure that the same cost-sharing rules that govern routine mammograms would also apply to any medically necessary follow-up exams, which lawmakers said can currently entail hundreds to thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket costs.
The proposal has already passed the House several times in the past, but it has never been taken up by the Senate.
Last year, HB 297 passed the House in a near-unanimous vote, with the lone “no” coming from Rep. Kelly Hastings, a Gaston County Republican.
Rep. Mary Belk, one of the bill’s sponsors and a breast cancer survivor herself, said Senate leaders have refused to consider the bill because “They don’t believe in mandates — they don’t believe in telling different companies what they should do.”
“But the fact of the matter is, we have already decided in North Carolina that we have screening,” she continued. “So what this bill does — it does not create a mandate. What it does is it enhances the mammography that people normally get.”
To attempt to make the bill more palatable for the Senate, Belk said that this version narrows the requirement to three groups of patients: those who’ve had breast cancer, those with increased genetic risks and those who have discovered a breast abnormality through standard screening.
Deandrea Newsome, a regional manager with the Susan G. Komen Foundation, said the organization has already helped to pass a version of the bill in 32 other states.
“It is time that we pass this bill in North Carolina — and I know that we can do it,” she said. “As committed partners in the fight against breast cancer, we know how deeply important it is for cancer patients to have a fair and equitable access to breast imaging that may save their lives.”
This story was originally published May 6, 2026 at 12:58 PM with the headline "Mecklenburg lawmaker reveals breast cancer diagnosis, pushes for screening bill."
