[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 95 (Monday, July 15, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1260]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E1260]]
 REGARDING H.R. 5068, ALLOWING UNINSURED WOMEN TO OBTAIN TREATMENT FOR 
                       OVARIAN AND UTERINE CANCER

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. PATSY T. MINK

                               of hawaii

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 15, 2002

  Mrs. MINK of Hawaii. Mr. Speaker, Congress passed the Breast and 
Cervical Cancer Treatment Act (P.L. 106-354) to help low-income, 
uninsured women with breast and cervical cancer.
  Before passing this act, low-income women could receive free 
mammograms and pap smears through the CDC's National Breast and 
Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program. However, women who were 
diagnosed with cancer could not obtain financial assistance for 
treatment. The government found diseases that could kill these women, 
but it did not help them obtain the medical treatment they needed.
  P.L. 106-354 corrected this problem by providing federal funds to 
treat any breast or cervical cancer detected by the CDC's early 
detection program.
  Congress passed P.L. 106-354 so poor women suffering from breast and 
cervical cancer could focus on dealing with their illness rather than 
paying for expensive medical bills. The law allows these women to 
obtain medical coverage for cancer treatments and medicine.
  My bill, H.R. 5086, amends the Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment 
Act to include ovarian and uterine cancer. It will provide medical 
treatment for women who are screened by the CDC's early detection 
program and who are found to have ovarian and uterine cancer.
  My bill takes the next logical step by helping low-income women with 
ovarian and uterine cancer, two of the most devastating cancers faced 
by women. Ovarian cancer is the 5th leading cause of cancer death in 
women. Every year almost 40,000 new cases of uterine cancer are 
diagnosed in the U.S., and approximately 6,600 women will die from 
uterine cancer.
  I urge my colleagues to help women who live in poverty and cannot 
obtain the cancer treatments they desperately need.

                          ____________________