Breast Cancer Patient Protection

BREAST CANCER PATIENT PROTECTION -- (House of Representatives - July 27, 2006)

(Ms. DeLAURO asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of every woman who has ever had to leave the hospital within 24 hours after undergoing a mastectomy, and to urge that the House consider the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act. It is a bipartisan bill which will ensure that patients have the health care that they need following breast cancer surgery.

The statistics say it all. A woman in the United States has a 1-in-7 chance of developing breast cancer. It is the second leading cause of cancer deaths for women in America. And just this year, over 269,000 women will receive a diagnosis of invasive breast cancer.

Despite these numbers, women are often forced by their insurance companies to leave the hospital less than a day after mastectomy surgery, when they are still in pain, groggy from anesthesia, and with drainage tubes that require professional attention.

Mr. Speaker, the last thing that any woman should be doing at this time is

fighting with her insurance company. Two days of recovery time in the hospital should not be negotiable. Just 2 days. And ultimately that decision should be up to the patient and her doctor.

We should pass into law the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act to ensure that women do not have to fight for their recovery time in the hospital.

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