[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 16115]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    BREAST CANCER PATIENT PROTECTION

  (Ms. DeLAURO asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of every woman who 
has ever had to leave the hospital within 24 hours after undergoing a 
mastectomy, and to urge that the House consider the Breast Cancer 
Patient Protection Act. It is a bipartisan bill which will ensure that 
patients have the health care that they need following breast cancer 
surgery.
  The statistics say it all. A woman in the United States has a 1-in-7 
chance of developing breast cancer. It is the second leading cause of 
cancer deaths for women in America. And just this year, over 269,000 
women will receive a diagnosis of invasive breast cancer.
  Despite these numbers, women are often forced by their insurance 
companies to leave the hospital less than a day after mastectomy 
surgery, when they are still in pain, groggy from anesthesia, and with 
drainage tubes that require professional attention.
  Mr. Speaker, the last thing that any woman should be doing at this 
time is fighting with her insurance company. Two days of recovery time 
in the hospital should not be negotiable. Just 2 days. And ultimately 
that decision should be up to the patient and her doctor.
  We should pass into law the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act to 
ensure that women do not have to fight for their recovery time in the 
hospital.

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