[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 135 (Friday, September 23, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: September 23, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
   FEHBP COVERAGE OF BONE MARROW TRANSPLANTS AS TREATMENT FOR BREAST 
                                 CANCER

  (Mr. LEHMAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute, and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. LEHMAN. Mr. Speaker, Rebecca Perez-Ford is a 39-year-old mother 
of three small children who is suffering from stage III inflammatory 
breast cancer. Ms. Ford has literally been fighting for her life, 
fighting for the opportunity to raise the young children who need her. 
Her struggle against cancer, however, has by no means been her biggest 
challenge. Rather, her greatest obstacle has been a Federal insurance 
plan which has denied her the means to survive her disease.
  I recently testified before the Subcommittee on Compensation and 
Employee Benefits after learning that the Federal Employees Health 
Benefits Program [FEHBP] has excluded countless women like Ms. Ford 
from scientifically advanced, effective treatment for breast cancer. 
While many FEHBP policies have covered bone marrow transplants for 
testicular cancer and other diseases, OPM and the insurance companies 
have claimed that for breast cancer, this procedure is too experimental 
to be covered. Many noted oncologists, however, maintain that the 
evidence supporting the use of bone marrow transplants to treat breast 
cancer is far superior to the evidence supporting the same treatment 
for testicular cancer.
  I was so pleased to read in Wednesday's Washington Post that starting 
immediately, all FEHBP plans will be required to cover high-dose 
chemotherapy with autologous bone marrow transplantation in the 
treatment of breast cancer. This disease is itself a horrendous 
proposition, and without insurance reimbursement, women are left to 
bargain for lifesaving treatment.
  FEHBP's reluctance to cover bone marrow transplants for breast cancer 
patients was clearly inconsistent and discriminatory--the revamping of 
OPM's policy on this issue is a welcome change which is long overdue.

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