Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act of 2008

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

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Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I speak today on an important bill that I believe in, H.R. 758, The Breast Cancer Patient Protect Action of 2007. This bill is important to people facing this horrible disease, and it is time that we protect those who are the most vulnerable among us.

Patients who have breast cancer face a very tough road ahead. The medical realities are enough to frighten anyone and these patients face financial realities as well. With an ever corporatizing of the American health care system, it's more of an in and out process. Even those with excellent healthcare are pushed out of hospitals with great speed. Worse yet, those who do survive face an uphill battle making sure they can get the follow up they need to assure a long and healthy life.

This bill will show support for those with breast cancer that they are not alone. Worried

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that while they are recovering from major surgery, their insurance company will look at the bottom line, and no longer pay for hospital stays. This bill will require insurance companies to pay for the stays as long as the doctor thinks is necessary. As I am sure all of my colleagues know, you cannot get an insurance company to do anything without regulation.

This legislation will also remove the doctor's biggest challenge, needing insurer's permission before doing what they believe is medically necessary. There is nothing worse about our healthcare system today then the thought that it's not your doctor making the decisions for your care, but it's the insurance company that pays him or her. It's an unfortunate reality that doctors must choose between caring for their patients and keeping their practice and families afloat. This bill will at least give these doctors back the right to have the option of always putting their patients first.

Last, this bill also provides for secondary consultations by specialists in the appropriate medical fields to confirm or refute a diagnosis of cancer. While the vast majority of cancer diagnoses are correct, with the small numbers that are ``false positives'' this bill will allow for patients to double check their status before undergoing very expensive and dangerous treatment.

I am reminded of the American political commentator, journalist, and author, Molly Ivins of Texas. Diagnosed with breast cancer when she was 55, she didn't look down on her situation and feel sorry for herself. She instead looked at it as an opportunity saying, ``One of the things I said was that I had been in great hopes I would become a better person as a result of confronting my own mortality, but it actually never happened. I didn't become a better person.'' After two mastectomies, Molly toured around the country speaking out about breast cancer awareness, tragically she later died of the disease.

Almost everyone has had, or knows someone who has breast cancer, it's our mothers and daughters, sisters and friends who face this disease, and it's time we honor them, by protecing those who come after them. I also pay tribute to the work of Sister's Network in supporting this bill.

Mr. Speaker, we need to make sure that doctors are making the right diagnosis, that they are making the choices in care and not the insurance companies and that the health and care of these patients are in the right hands. I urge passage of this bill.

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