DeLauro: After 10 Years, Congress Must

Pass Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act

   

 

  WASHINGTON , D.C. – At a press conference on Capitol Hill today, Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (Conn.-3) joined Grammy-nominated Singer/Songwriter Jewel, Doctors Kristin Zarfos and Marisa Weiss, breast cancer survivors and Lifetime Television as part of the Stop Breast Cancer for Life campaign.  The advocates came to Washington to deliver more than 12 million petition signatures around the country, urging Congress to pass the bipartisan Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act of 2005 (S 910/HR1849).

The Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act of 2005 would allow a woman and her doctor to decide whether she should recuperate for at least 48 hours in the hospital or whether she has enough support to get quality care at home following a mastectomy.  The bill is sponsored in the U.S. Senate by Senators Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and in the U.S. House by Representatives DeLauro and Sue Kelly (R-NY).

Following is the text of DeLauro’s remarks from the press conference, as prepared for delivery.

“Ten years ago, I first met Dr. Zarfos.  She told me that HMOs were forcing her to discharge her patients before they were ready – sometimes just hours after mastectomy surgery.  Her experiences inspired me to get involved – but it was her tireless work—with patients she knew in my state of Connecticut, and with a network of doctors she knew around the country—gathering support for this bill from the grassroots all the way to the president that inspired me to see this fight through. 

“Today, with women having a 1 in 7 chance of developing breast cancer in her lifetime, almost everyone knows someone who has suffered from this disease. 

            “And if you have watched a loved one fighting for her life, you understand how important it is to not only have the loving support of family as I did during my fight against ovarian cancer, but also adequate recovery time in the hospital after surgery – so you have the professional care you need to begin the healing process, avoid infection and other complications.  A mastectomy is not an easy surgery – it is physically and emotionally traumatic. 

“That is why we are here today to say that when it comes to mastectomies, 2 days of recovery time in the hospital should not be negotiable – period.  Faced with a crisis, the last thing any woman should be doing at this time is fighting with her insurance company for such basic health care.  Some may want to go right home.  Some may need to stay for additional medical care.  But the point is – that decision should be up to the patient and her doctor.

            “Thanks to an executive order signed by President Clinton, women in Medicare are protected from drive through mastectomies.  But if we want to ensure that all women have these protections, we need to take federal action, which is why Congresswoman Kelly and I have joined forces to introduce the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act.  Our legislation would make sure women do not have to fight for that recovery time in the hospital.  It would also make sure women have access to second opinions, lumpectomy and radiation therapy if necessary. 

“This is such an issue of common sense, it is almost hard to believe that we need to pass a bill to make it required by law.  But unfortunately, we do.  We have been working on this for almost a decade now, without so much as a hearing, much less a vote.  The insurance industry has shown they will not do this on their own.  So, as long as they continue to force women out of the hospital without adequate recovery time, we need to continue this fight. 

“At the end of the day, this should not be a difficult issue.  It is a clear matter of right and wrong – of values and of saying “government has a role to play here.”” 

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www.house.gov/delauro