Congress Considers Breast Cancer Reform Bills

[babylonsister]

Congress Considers Breast Cancer Reform Bills
During Breast Cancer Awareness Month, House Committee Addresses Pending Breast Cancer Bills
By VIJA UDENANS
WASHINGTON, Oct. 7, 2009


Sponsors of several House bills focused on breast cancer today urged support for the legislation, bolstering their appeals by repeating the frightening death statistics and recounting harrowing tales of pain and suffering from denied hospital care.

The House subcommittee on Health, Energy and Commerce met today to consider the pending bills in conjunction with Breast Cancer Awareness Month. They would support breast cancer education, encourage efforts to improve diagnosis and help breast cancer victims.

"Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed form of cancer diagnosed in women," subcommittee chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., acknowledged to the key sponsors of the breast cancer legislation.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., told of a Kansas woman who was only allowed one night in the hospital after a modified radical mastectomy, an Arizona woman who was discharged from the hospital two hours after a double bilateral mastectomy, and another woman not covered for an overnight stay after a mastectomy, who later developed complications from the lack of medical care.

"A member of my staff in Michigan was victim of these unscrupulous policies," said Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich. "She succumbed to cancer. The way the insurance companies treated her was an outrage."

During this 25th annual Breast Cancer Awareness month, Congress is helping to focus on the efforts to stem the deadly disease as it considers the four bills.

DeLauro has introduced HR 1691, the Breast Cancer Patient Protection bill, which would require that after breast surgery, "adequate recovery time in the hospital should not be negotiable."

Her bill does not mandate a 48-hour hospital stay after a mastectomy, but it does insure that the doctor and patient will determine the length, not the insurance company.

DeLauro has 236 co-sponsors for the bill, and enjoys the support of many cancer support organizations, including Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the American Cancer Society, Breastcancer.org and others. Nearly 24 million people have signed a Lifetime Television petition calling for the bill to be passed.

more...

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Health/breast-cancer-awareness-congressional-committee-considers-health-reform/story?id=8777019

[Berry Cool]

1. These bills are about ending "drive-by mastectomies," improving screening of poor women

and better educating young women about the tendency for young women's breast cancers to be more aggressive (although their chances of getting breast cancer are not as high).

They're fine as far as they go, but we need more. For example, some think "early detection = prevention" or "cure." Not so. There is no cure. All early detection does is provide a wider range of treatment options.

And all the free mammograms in the world (and mammograms themselves aren't perfect) aren't going to help a poor woman--young or old--with her breast cancer if she can't afford to have it treated once it is "detected early."

And it won't help her to require insurance companies to cover as much time in the hospital as her doctor says she needs for recovery from breast surgery if she HAS no insurance.

And yet Republicans are still saying none of these bills are needed. Why? Because "our health care system is THE BEST IN THE WORLD." End of story.

[tanyev]

2. No doubt these reforms are needed, but why pick out one specific disease?

How about reforming the whole freaking system?