Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act

July 9th. That's the date I wrote it. I just realized my clock is off by one hour, so it's showing up as a July 10th entry. Bah!

It seems my journal topics are all over the place this month. This entry will focus on the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act. I want to do my part to help bring attention to this bill that could/should be a law. (Now you know where I stand right up front!)

The Pink Ribbon Review has a great article explaining what this bill is all about. The bill was first introduced to Congress 12 years ago, but ever since then, it has remained a bill. Every year Connecticut Representative Rosa DeLauro reintroduces the bill, hoping to pass it into a law.

Remember that as a bill, it needs to continue through the legislative process. First it goes "to committees that deliberate, investigate, and revise them before they go to general debate. The majority of bills never make it out of committee. Keep in mind that sometimes the text of one bill is incorporated into another bill, and in those cases the original bill, as it would appear here, would seem to be abandoned. [Last Updated: Jul 4, 2008]"

To hear a young lady's perspective on this topic, there is a YouTube video. Meandmsc, her screen name, is a three time breast cancer survivor who has had a double mastectomy. Be prepared, though... she has not lost her sense of humor, as she advocates for changing the aforementioned bill into a law. Her language is blunt, she will show you her scars, and she makes a good point when comparing how insurance companies view the surgical treatment and follow- up care of men with testicular cancer who undergo surgery versus the care of women facing breast removal.

Twenty states have already passed the bill, and made it a law that women having mastectomies or lumpectomies would be offered a hospital stay as needed. Where it is not a law, insurance companies require that the patients be sent home just hours after having their breasts removed, regardless of what their doctor thinks of their condition. Advocates for this law want it to be nationwide.

I agree with Meandmsc. She asks: "Why should the women being diagnosed with breast cancer have another fight on their hands against the insurance giants when the only foe they should be fighting is cancer? "  narrative accompanying her video at YouTube.

It seems to me that it should be a case by case decision, but that the insurance companies should provide complete coverage if a woman needs to be hospitalized for more than a day or two. If a woman doesn't need to stay in the hospital, let her go home!

I received an email today requesting that I click on the link and go to a website where I could sign a petition to send to Congress asking them to make the Breast Cancer Patient Protection bill into a law. It's the Lifetimetv.com petition. You may even have already signed it yourself.

But I am wary of email or on-line petitions. I don't put much confidence in any of them ever reaching their intended destinations. I don't know for sure if anyone is going to pull all those 'signatures' and present them to Congress, or even if Congress will accept them for what they represent. Couldn't anyone make a fake list of people for an on-line petition, complete with fake emails and fake zipcodes?

I think it would be better for anyone who wishes to advocate for this issue to personally send their Congressmen/women and Senators an email, or a letter sent the old fashioned way, or even calling them.

Tonight, I emailed all of my district's representatives to let themknow how I felt about this matter.

If you want to be an advocate, and I strongly urge you to do this, it doesn't take long toget the email or office address of your Representatives. Just go to FormsHouse.gov and type in your state. You'll need to know your nine-digit zip code. They'll show you how to find those last four digits if you don't know them. Or you can do a Google search for your state's representatives. There will be a home site you can go to get a list of all of them by district or by county.

I think if you just sign the petition and don't write the personal letter, you are taking a chance that your action could be meaningless. Besides, if you want to be an activist, even a stay at home activist, you must do something other than sign an online petition.

DO something!! Go for it. I've provided a couple of links to heolp you get the information you need to decide if this something for you. A simple Google search using the words Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act will provide you any number of articles and resources.

Please help this worthy cause and write the people in your legislature.

Thank you!!

 

Tags: Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act, online petitions, 110th Congress