[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 13 (Wednesday, February 5, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E170-E171]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    INTRODUCTION OF THE WOMEN'S HEALTH AND CANCER RIGHTS ACT OF 1997

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. SUE W. KELLY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 5, 1997

  Mrs. KELLY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce the Women's Health 
and Cancer Rights Act of 1997, comprehensive legislation that 
guarantees coverage for inpatient hospital care following a mastectomy, 
lumpectomy, or lymph node dissection--based on a doctor's judgment, 
requires coverage for breast reconstructive procedure, including 
symmetrical reconstruction, ensures a second opinion for any cancer 
diagnosis, and offers significant physical protections from inducement 
or retribution.
  I want to first thank my colleagues in both the House and Senate that 
have worked so diligently on this legislation. Senators D'Amato, Snowe, 
and Feinstein, as well as Representatives Susan Molinari and Frank 
LoBiondo, are all part of this effort to restore the ability of doctors 
to practice sound medicine and to restore compassion and dignity to the 
treatment of breast cancer patients.
  So why introduce this bill? I'll tell you why. Tragically, some women 
who must undergo mastectomies, lumpectomies or lymph node dissections 
for the treatment of breast cancer are rushed through their recovery 
from these procedures on an outpatient basis at the insistence of their 
health plan or insurance company in order to cut cost. Other insurance 
companies cut cost by denying coverage for reconstructive surgery 
because they have deemed such procedures cosmetic. Ironically, they do 
not deny reconstructive surgery for an ear lost to cancer. We must 
understand that self-image is at stake at a time when optimism and 
inner strength can be the difference between life and death.
  Furthermore, this bill requires coverage of second opinions when any 
cancer tests come back either negative or positive, giving all patients 
the benefit of a second opinion. This important provision will not only 
help ensure that false negatives are detected, but also give men and 
women greater peace of mind.
  Now, to be clear, all insurance companies are not so insensitive as 
to not provide these benefits and, therefore, all will not be affected 
by this legislation. but we have a responsibility to protect the 
doctor-patient relationship, ensuring that the medical needs of 
patients are fully addressed.
  Everyone has heard that one in nine women will be diagnosed with 
breast cancer at some point in their lifetime. Well, one of those women 
is my sister. So I know a little something about the horror that 
accompanies this disease and the personal anxiety of living with the 
disease.
  My sister and her experiences have made me realize that we should 
have no greater priority than empowering those with breast cancer the 
right and ability to play an active role in the management of their 
treatment. It is our obligation as leaders to ensure them that their 
medical treatment is in the hands of physicians, not insurance 
companies. It is a profound injustice when health care forgets about 
the patient, yet with regard to mastectomy recovery and breast 
reconstruction following a mastectomy, that is just what has been done.
  Let's put the reality of this disease in perspective. When a woman is 
told that she has breast cancer, the feeling that immediately follows 
the initial denial is lack of control. Our bill is a patient's bill 
aimed at providing patients, in consultation with their physicians, a 
greater degree of autonomy when deciding appropriate medical care and, 
therefore, taking back control of their lives.
  More than 2\1/2\ million women in America today are living with 
breast cancer. These women are our sisters, mothers, daughters, wives, 
and friends. This dreadful disease now strikes over 180,000 women per 
year and that figure does not even include the additional 20

[[Page E171]]

percent a year who have preinvasive cancers. Devastatingly to the 
families involved, it is estimated that more than 44,000 women will die 
of breast cancer this year.
  But all the news is not grim. Overall breast cancer mortality 
declined 5 percent between 1989 and 1993 due to increased mammography 
screening and improved treatments such as mastectomies, lumpectomies, 
and lymph node dissections.
  There is no doubt that we have the medical know-how to fight breast 
cancer. The question is do we have the commitment it takes.
  As long as we send a woman home 12 hours after losing a part of 
herself with no compassion and no support, then the answer is no.
  As long as breast reconstruction is deemed cosmetic, then the answer 
is no.
  As long as false negatives are acceptable and we, therefore, abandon 
a patient unknowingly in need, then the answer is no.
  As long as we fail to come to the defense of doctors who are 
persecuted for practicing sound medicine, then the answer is no.
  Passage of the Women's Health and Cancer Rights Act would demonstrate 
what we are lacking--the commitment to fight breast cancer and stand up 
for those who are suffering.
  In closing, I am pleased that President Clinton emphasized the 
importance of this legislation in his State of the Union Address last 
night. It is nice to have the administration behind this critical 
legislation.

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