Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act of 2008

Floor Speech

BREAST CANCER PATIENT PROTECTION ACT OF 2008 -- (House of Representatives - September 23, 2008)

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Ms. DeLAURO. I thank the gentleman from New Jersey.

After too many long years, this is a historic moment. After too many lost opportunities, this is our chance to make a difference and to take an important step toward meeting our commitment to the women of America.

I want to thank my colleague, Chairman Dingell, with whom I introduced the very first version of the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act over a decade ago. It is his partnership and that of our colleagues, Chairmen Pallone, Stark, Andrews, Miller, that helped to make this day and this vote possible.

I want to say thank you to the ranking member of the full committee, Mr. Barton, for his support, and for the bipartisan support of this effort.

More than 12 years ago, I first met Dr. Kristen Zarfos. She walked into my office in Connecticut and told me that HMOs were forcing her to discharge her patients before they were ready, sometimes just hours after mastectomy surgery. Dr. Zarfos' experience inspired me to get involved. Her tireless work with patients in my State of Connecticut and with a network of doctors she knew around the country gathered support for this bill from the grass roots all the way to the Congress.

Today, a woman's chance of developing breast cancer in her lifetime is one in eight. Almost everyone knows someone who has suffered from this disease. If you have watched a loved one fighting for her life, you understand how important it is to have not only 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 to begin healing and to avoid infection.

A mastectomy is not an easy surgery; it is physically and emotionally traumatic. That is what the Breast Cancer Patient Protection bill is all about. It says that when it comes to mastectomies and lumpectomies, adequate recovery time in the hospital should not be negotiable. The last thing any woman should be doing at that time is fighting with her insurance company.

This bill does not mandate a 48-hour hospital stay if a patient chooses to go home sooner, nor does it set 48 hours as a maximum amount of time a woman can stay in the hospital. It simply ensures that any decision in favor of a shorter or longer hospital stay will be made by the patient and her doctor, and not an insurance company. It would also ensure women have access to second opinions and adequate hospital stays after having a lumpectomy.

Some may argue that the time for a bill like this has already passed, that States are beginning to address the issue, but the truth is that drive-through mastectomies continue to today.

At the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee hearing this spring--and I thank, again, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone)--breast cancer patient Alva Williams testified that she had a mastectomy on March 6, 2006 and was sent home several hours after surgery. Her insurance company would not cover an overnight stay. Ms. Williams had family to take care of her at home, but they had no medical training. She developed an infection in her incisions. Recovering from the infection caused Ms. Williams' chemotherapy treatments to be delayed by 6 weeks.

All across the Nation women continue to suffer the same way that Alva Williams suffered, physically and emotionally, and yet without the care they should rightfully be getting for the insurance premiums that they have paid. And all across this Nation people everywhere are saying, ``No more.''

Twenty-three million Americans have signed Lifetime Television's petition calling for the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act's passage. Now with 222 cosponsors in the House and Senators Snowe and Landrieu leading 19 cosponsors in the Senate, strong bipartisan support exists for these most basic patient protections.

I urge my colleagues to support the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act. Make this day a powerful turning point. We have a tremendous opportunity today to make it clear to women, to cancer patients, and to their families that we value your health.

I again thank my colleagues, and urge the support of this bill.

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