A potentially life-saving screening will soon be available to New York residents at no personal expense.
Thanks to legislation signed by Governor Kathy Hochul this week, healthcare insurance providers will be required to offer lung cancer screening to state residents free of charge. The bill’s provisions, however, do not come into force until Jan. 1, 2027.
“Catching lung cancer early shouldn’t depend on someone’s ability to pay,” said Hochul on Dec. 5. “Today, we’re ensuring it doesn’t. This is going to be so significant to people.”
Lung cancer kills roughly 7,400 New Yorkers and strikes nearly 14,000 more with a new diagnosis every year. Making screening free should help provide incentive for more citizens to book an appointment, thereby identifying more cases in their initial stages and saving more lives.
“If you find out early enough your chance of survival is so high,” Hochul also highlighted at a press conference.
New York is the second American state to pass legislation making low-dose CT screening and follow-up diagnostics free to patients. Vermont was the first to do so in June.
Hochul’s bill has not expanded eligibility criteria though. You must still be 50 to 80 years old with a 20+ pack-year smoking history (and either currently smoke or have quit within the past 15 years) to receive a no-cost lung cancer screening scan in New York.
New York currently ranks fifth nationally for lung cancer survival rates and for early detection, according to the American Lung Association’s latest data. This significant amendment to state healthcare regulations could boost that ranking even higher in the years to come.
The state’s current adult smoking rate of 9.3 per cent is well below the national average of 11.4 per cent. Eighty per cent of New York’s cases directly result from tobacco smoke.
“Proud to lead Governor Hochul’s landmark bill signing to remove cost burdens that often prevent early detection of lung cancer, when it is most treatable!” stated Hochul’s Associate Director of Legislative Affairs, Patrick Kwan.
Today, @GovKathyHochul signed the NYS #LungCancerScreening bill, eliminating cost-sharing for recommended LCS, f/u scans, & diagnostic tests by all payers in NY 🙌
NY is the 2nd state to pass such a law, which goes into effect on 1/1/27 🫁🤍#Progress #EarlyDetectionSavesLives pic.twitter.com/s2NmYYrhqI
— Lauren Kriger Groner (@LaurenGroner) December 4, 2025
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