Virtually every family in America has been touched by cancer because it is so widespread. My heart goes out to everyone who faces this challenge daily. In 1999, I voted for a bill that was signed into law requiring insurers who pay for mastectomy to also provide coverage for reconstructive surgery. Unfortunately, the bill did not mandate a 48-hour hospital stay following a mastectomy. During the 110th Congress, I voted for the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act to do just that. While this bill passed the House, the Senate did not take it up.

Doctors and their patients should have the final say in the length of hospitalization following surgery, not insurance companies. I have cosponsored H.R. 1691, the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act, to require a group health plan to pay for a 48-hour hospital stay following a mastectomy if the doctor, in consultation with the patient, decides it is needed.