Washington D.C.–March 30, 2009–How can we make a difference?  What can we do as individuals to help others affected by Breast Cancer.  We can contact our local Congressman and Woman who are on the Committees currently reviewing H.R. 1691. (Fight Pink’s Congresswoman is Dina Titus)  On March 24th Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (CT) reintroduced her legislation,  the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act. This bill passed the House last year by a vote of 421-2. The legislation would allow a woman and her doctor to decide whether she should recuperate from a mastectomy or lumpectomy for at least 48 hours in the hospital or whether she has enough support to get quality care at home.  

This is a bill in the U.S. Congress originating in the House of Representatives (”H.R.”). A bill must be passed by both the House and Senate and then be signed by the President before it becomes law.

Bill numbers restart from 1 every two years. Each two-year cycle is called a session of Congress. This bill was created in the 111th Congress, in 2009-2010.

Partial Text of the bill is below. to read the full text of the bill click here.

 According to the American Cancer Society, excluding cancers of the skin, breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in women.  According to the American Cancer Society, an estimated 40,480 women and 450 men died from breast cancer in 2008.  According to the American Cancer Society, in 2008 an estimated 182,460 new cases of invasive breast cancer were diagnosed in women, and an estimated 1,990 invasive breast cancer cases were diagnosed in men; and in addition, an estimated 67,770 new cases of in situ breast cancer occurred in women in 2008, and of these, approximately 85 percent were ductal carcinoma in situ.  According to the American Cancer Society, most breast cancer patients undergo some type of surgical treatment, which may involve lumpectomy (surgical removal of the tumor with clear margins) or mastectomy (surgical removal of the breast) with removal of some of the axillary (underarm) lymph nodes.

The offering and operation of health plans affect commerce among the States.   Health care providers located in a State serve patients who reside in the State and patients who reside in other States.   In order to provide for uniform treatment of health care providers and patients among the States, it is necessary to cover health plans operating in one State as well as health plans operating among the several States.  Research has indicated that treatment for breast cancer varies according to type of insurance coverage and State of residence.   Currently, 20 States mandate minimum inpatient coverage after a patient undergoes a mastectomy, we need this to be a law signed by the President. Many breast cancer patients have reported adverse outcomes, including infection and inadequately controlled pain, resulting from premature hospital discharge following breast cancer surgery.

 Many women experience not only physical but emotional pain, and may need further care.   We must make sure that this is passed into law.  It should be the woman/man who is undergoing the mastectomy, lumpectomy and her/his physician who dictates when they should be discharged, not the insurance companies.

The Status of the bill currently is in Referred to Committee.

This bill is in the first step in the legislative process. Introduced bills and resolutions first go to committees that deliberate, investigate, and revise them before they go to general debate. The majority of bills and resolutions never make it out of committee. 

Committees are like “mini Congresses”. Most bills begin by being considered by one or several congressional committees which may “report” the bill favorably or unfavorably to the Senate or House as a whole allowing it to receive consideration by the full body and move forward, or may fail to consider a bill at all preventing the bill from moving forward. Most bills never receive any committee consideration and are never reported out. House bills start in House committees and enter Senate committees only after being passed by the House and received by the Senate, and similarly for Senate bills.

Information on committee proceedings is notoriously opaque: committees vary in what information they make public and often do not provide basic public information such as the results of votes electronically or in an understandable format.

Furthermore, if your Member of Congress does not sit on any committee relevant to this bill, you generally have no opportunity to voice your opinion on the bill while the bill is receiving its most important consideration.

The bill has been referred to the following committees: