Colorado U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse introduces bill inspired by his wife's breast cancer diagnosis

Democratic U.S. Representative Joe Neguse is hoping to pay it forward after his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer.

"We had been very lucky to have this wonderful life that we built together here in our community," the U.S. congressman told CBS Colorado. 

Neguse and his wife, Andrea, had their newborn son, their 5-year-old daughter, and they had just celebrated their 10-year wedding anniversary when their lives were upended.

"Cancer was something we simply never suspected," Andrea told CBS Colorado. 

Andrea was 36 years old, with no family history of breast cancer, when she found a lump. 

"We went straight to my doctor. She also never expected cancer," Andrea said. "When I was kind of on my way out the door, she said, 'You know, let's just go ahead and have you do a mammogram just to be safe."

The screening showed an aggressive form of breast cancer.

"For us, it was, 'You need to start chemo therapy within three weeks,'" Andrea said. "I had a 3-month-old. I also thought, 'There's no way this is cancer. I've just given birth.' But cancer doesn't care."

"That diagnosis was such a shock and came as such ... a body blow to us and our family," Rep. Neguse said. 

Andrea underwent chemotherapy, immunotherapy and a double mastectomy. She lost all her hair. But her husband says she never lost hope. 

"Any time I got kind of too down and out, I would be reminded of Andrea's strength and seeing the way that she's battling this disease, that she's losing her hair as she's going through things that I never have gone through. She reassured me maybe more than I was reassuring her," said Joe, bringing a smile and a laugh to his wife's face. 

Andrea says she's sharing her story publicly for the first time in hopes of raising awareness. While breast cancer is more prevalent in older women, the rate of increase in women under 50 years old is twice that of women over 50. And younger women are 40% more likely to die from the disease. Minority women are at even greater risk.

"If we can do our part in trying to get more folks to get screened early and perhaps make it easier to do so, we ought to do that," Joe said. 

As the assistant minority leader in the U.S. House of Representatives, Joe Neguse has introduced the "Screen to Save Act". The bill would require insurers to cover routine mammograms at no cost for women aged 30 and up. Right now, they're covered for women ages 40 and up.

"If we hadn't noticed the lump or if we had treated it more casually, the prognosis really would have been much worse," Andrea said.

Andrea Neguse has been cancer free for two and a half years and doesn't take a single day for granted. 

"It gives you an immense perspective," Andrea said. "I think also too there's a greater appreciation for seizing the moment and enjoying your life and your children."

Nearly 383,000 women are expected to be diagnosed with breast cancer this year. That's an increase of about 6,600 over last year. Sixteen percent of those cases are in women under age 50.

Andrea says, if she had been diagnosed 10 years earlier, her outcome might have been different. Presently, the five-year survival rate for breast cancer that is caught early is over 99%, which is why Andrea says women who find a lump shouldn't wait to get screened. Congressman Neguse says his bill will ensure money isn't an obstacle to those screenings. He introduced the measure Monday and is hoping to get co-sponsors from both sides of the aisle.