Breast cancer legislation

['lizbeth]

http://www.snopes.com/politics/medical/mastectomy.asp

My husband brought this to my attention.

[ElaineM]

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-758

Unfortunately this never became law. It was passed by the House, but the Senate never took action on it and of course the president never signed the bill into law.
The bill also included lumpectomies and lymph node surgeries.
It would have been nice to have the option of staying in the hospital overnight after breast surgery to make sure everything is okay. I for one have developed infections, hematomas and seromas after almost every breast surgery, except the first one even though I followed all post surgical instructions. It was also not fun to come home hung over from drugs and have to take care of myself.

[Jackie07]

I think I stayed overnight at the hospital after both lumpectomy and mastectomy. I got edema after the lumpectomy and had to go back to the hospital to squeeze out the fluid. We live just 10 minutes away, so it was not bad. But it could really be hard for patients who have to deal with the stuff all by themselves.

['lizbeth]

Elaine,

That was for 2008, there is a new bill H.R. 1691 in the house and S. 688 in the Senate for 2009. They were introduced in March. I'm not that savy on the workings of the House and Senate. When will we know if they have passed or not?

[ElaineM]

'lizbeth,
That is great news !! Anyone have any info on this? If so please share it with us.

[hutchibk]

This bill requires a group health plan or a health issuer offering group health insurance coverage that provides medical and surgical benefits to ensure that inpatient (and in the case of a lumpectomy, outpatient) coverage and radiation therapy are provided for breast cancer treatment. This bill prohibits such a plan or issuer from restricting benefits for any hospital length of stay to less than 48 hours in connection with a mastectomy or breast conserving surgery or 24 hours in connection with a lymph node dissection.

This bill ensures that after breast cancer surgery, a woman will have 48 hours to recuperate in the hospital, no matter which State she lives in or what insurance coverage she has. The patient is not mandated to stay in the hospital for 48 hours, but the decision should be made by the patient and doctor and not by an insurance company.

The bill also ensures that coverage is provided for secondary consultations (on terms and conditions that are no more restrictive than those applicable to the initial consultations) by specialists in the appropriate medical fields to confirm or refute a diagnosis of cancer.

S.688 was introduced by Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) on 3/24/09 and has 11 cosponsors. The bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions.

H.R.1691 was introduced by Rep. Rosa DeLauro on 3/24/09 and has 208 original cosponsors. It was referred to the Committees on Energy & Commerce, Ways & Means, and Education & Labor.

Rep. Delauro introduced a similar bill in the previous Congress that overwhelmingly passed this House last year by a vote of 421-2 and it had 223 cosponsors.