NYCDCC Welfare Fund Expands Partnership with MSK Direct to Offer Collaborative Focus on Screening and Education: Breast Health

January 6, 2020

Your health is important and the NYCDCC Welfare Fund is committed to ensuring you and your families have access to high quality care and resources. In September, we announced our partnership with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (“MSK”). This partnership offers all* NYCDCC members, retirees, and your families immediate access to MSK Direct, a benefit that provides guided access to expert cancer care and treatment. As part of our partnership with MSK Direct, we are now collaborating to focus on screening and education for our Welfare Fund participants as well.

The new year is an ideal time to promote a renewed focus on health. With that in mind, the NYCDCC Welfare Fund has collaborated with MSK to provide you a Breast Health Guide. This guide, which you will soon receive in the mail and can also be viewed by clicking the picture included with this article, offers education and resources to ensure you (or your partner) are aware of the steps you can take to reduce your risk of breast cancer. Please review it and feel free to pass it along to your family members who may find it relevant.

We encourage all clinically eligible women (generally 40 years and older**) to get the recommended breast cancer screening at MSK or any other local participating provider of your choosing. Members are under no obligation to get their screening at MSK. Breast cancer screening through mammography is important because it can detect breast cancer in its earliest stages, when it is most curable.

If you are over the age of 40, due for your next yearly mammogram, and would like to schedule an appointment at MSK, you should get a prescription from your primary care doctor before scheduling your mammogram. To get screened at an MSK location in Manhattan, New Jersey, Westchester or Long Island, call the NYCDCC Welfare Fund’s dedicated toll-free MSK Direct phone line at 833-786-3368 from Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. If you think you are at increased risk of developing breast cancer, you can also call MSK Direct to discuss what options may be available to you. For more information, please visit the Benefit Funds’ website at www.nyccbf.org.

*Medicare-eligible retirees who are covered by the UnitedHealthcare Group Medicare Advantage PPO plan offered through the NYCDCC Welfare Fund are eligible for all MSK Direct services, but these services may be considered out of network.

** Women aged 40 and over covered under the Empire plan have no cost share for preventative annual mammograms at INN providers (OON subject to $750 deductible and 70/30 cost share). Women aged 35 to 39 covered under the Empire plan are eligible for one baseline mammogram only when the individual has a first-degree relative family history (mother, sister or child). Additional scans before reaching age 40 are subject to cost share (INN $200 deductible and 90/10 cost share) (OON $750 deductible and 70/30 cost share). Women aged 40 and over covered under the UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage plan have no cost share for preventative annual mammograms at providers who accept Medicare, including MSK. Women aged 35 to 39 covered under the Medicare Advantage plan are eligible for one baseline mammogram with no cost share. All women covered under the Medicare Advantage plan are eligible for clinical breast exams performed by a clinician during a routine physical once every 24 months.