FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
Contact: Adriana Surfas
Wednesday, May 21,
2008
(202) 225-3661
What
Advocacy Organizations are Saying About
DeLauro’s
Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act
In
addition to the support of these organizations, the legislation enjoys broad
support in the Congress – 219 House cosponsors and 19 cosponsors of the Senate
companion legislation introduced by Senators Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Mary
Landrieu (D-LA).
“As
soon as the network began talking to viewers about the issue of
‘drive-through’ mastectomies, we heard from thousands of women and their
families that they were indeed facing the problem and wanted Congress to take
action to address it. … In the first year, the petition had 17,000 signatures.
Today, the petition on myLifetime.com has been signed nearly 22 million times.
… We hope that you will move quickly in order to allow this lifesaving bill to
come to a vote on the House floor.”
—Meredith
Wagner, Executive Vice President
Energy
& Commerce Health Subcommittee Testimony
“The
decision about the length of needed in-hospital recovery time following breast
surgery must be made within the sacred relationship between a woman and her
doctor. Not reduced to a business decision that overrides a doctor’s
best judgment and the patient’s best interest…I thank you for your
initiative in championing this life-saving Bill, and urge Congress to take
proactive steps to eliminate this misguided practice.”
—Marisa
C. Weiss, M.D.
“We
have a similar, though not as encompassing, bill in
—Susan
Davis
Connecticut
Breast Cancer Coalition Foundation
“The
Susan G. Komen for the Cure Advocacy Alliance writes to offer its support for
the ‘Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act of 2007.’ … We believe that
decisions concerning the length of a patient’s hospital stay subsequent to
mastectomy, lumpectomy or lymph node dissection for the treatment of breast
cancer should be made jointly by physicians and patients, rather than by
insurance companies.”
—Shelley
Fuld Nasso, Director of Public Policy
The
Susan G. Komen for the Cure Advocacy Alliance
In
support of these women who must deal with tremendous medical and emotional
challenges to overcome this disease, we believe it is critical that physicians
and patients have the ability to freely discuss and decide together what
treatment options are medically necessary and appropriate, including an adequate
hospital stay.”
—Daniel
E. Smith, President
“…
Our 24/7 hotline answers over 40,000 calls each year from those diagnosed and/or
touched by breast cancer. We are appalled when calls are received from
women who have been told that their insurance will not cover a hospital stay
after a mastectomy. … Breast Cancer Network of Strength supports the Breast
Cancer Patient Protection Act because women should not have to negotiate
recovery time in the hospital after a mastectomy. Let’s put the health
care decision making in the hands of those who know best – patients and their
doctors.”
—Kay
Wissmann, Director of Government Relations
Breast
Cancer Network of Strength
(formerly
Y-Me National Breast Cancer Organization)
“ONS
believes that your legislation will work to improve the quality of care for
women undergoing treatment for breast cancer. … Unfortunately, too many
times, people with cancer also face the challenge of a health care plan and a
health care system that adds additional pressures and frustrations on top of an
already strained situation. Specifically, ONS supports your legislation, because
it helps to ensure that decision pertaining to treatment for breast cancer are
made by patients in consultation with their cancer care providers, not by health
plans or insurers.”
—Georgia
M. Decker, MS, RN, CS-ANP, AOCN, President
—Paula
Rieger, RN, MS, AOCN, Chief Executive Officer
“Having
endured the diagnosis and death of mothers, sisters, aunts, teachers, nuns, and
friends from breast cancer, it is empowering for us to collectively work toward
a change. …No teenage girl should act as a surrogate caregiver to her siblings
while her mother struggles with complicated tubing less than ten hours after
surgery. No woman should suffer unnecessary infection, because she does not have
the energy to replace the dressings wrapped around her breasts. No patient
should be forced from a hospital against her doctor’s judgment. Think Pink has
witnessed these injustices and has worked to eliminate them. … Think Pink
stands in strong support for H.R. 758 and respectfully asks Congress to pass the
Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act.”
—Kelleigh
Cosentino, President
Think
Pink Society at
Energy
& Commerce Health Subcommittee Testimony
“…the
need for a mastectomy can cause an overwhelming stress factor in [a woman’s]
life. Then, to be faced with the fact that you must go home after surgery
in pain, with a surgical dressing, tubes and watch for signs of an infection,
just adds to her stress level. … the 48-hour stay gives her a chance to cope
with the diagnosis, assault to her body and the possible need for chemotherapy
and/or radiation therapy. This time also allows her to get the necessary
resources needed to get on with her life.”
—Sandra
Fisher, Deputy Director
The
“[The
legislation] will help ease the burden for those struggling with breast cancer.
One of the challenges of the private market is that insurance benefits vary by
state. … Women struggling with a life threatening disease should not have to
worry about whether the insurance company in their state will provide them with
the same level of coverage as neighboring states or whether they will hit their
lifetime cap as a result of expensive cancer treatments.”
—Ronald
F. Pollack, Executive Director
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