Having reached the two-year anniversary mark of supporting the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act, Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur continues her battle to pass the bill and put an end to “drive-through mastectomies.”
“Despite a prevailing medical standard of two to four days to recuperate and gain physical and emotional strength, insurance companies regularly refuse to cover a hospital stay and women find themselves forced to leave the hospital before they are ready — often just hours after surgery,” Kaptur said.
The Breast Cancer Patient Protection would guarantee the option of a minimum 48-hour hospital stay for a mastectomy, and a 24-hour hospital stay for a lymph node removal, according to Kaptur.
The two-year battle began when Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (Conn.) introduced the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act (H.R. 536) to Congress on Feb. 8, 2001. Kaptur gave her support when the bill was introduced.
On March 29, 2001, the bill was referred to the House Subcommittee on Employer-Employee Relations for review. There has been no recent major action taken on the bill, according to the House bill summary and status report.
“I strongly supported the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act in the last Congress, and will co-sponsor it once it is introduced in the 108th,” Kaptur said. “I call on the House leadership to bring this bill up for a vote, so that we can end the despicable practice of ‘drive-through mastectomies’.”
In Ohio, the American Cancer Society has joined Kaptur in support of the bill, according to the organization’s media advocacy coordinator, Michelle Jones.
“The society strongly supports the ability of a physician and patient to freely discuss and decide together what treatment, including length of hospital stay, is medically necessary for the healing and well-being of the patient,” Jones said from her Dublin office.
Concerning the overall issue of the access and quality of medical care, the American Cancer Society leans towards more inclusive health coverage, according to Jones.
“The society is more in favor of the McCain-Kennedy-Edwards bill. This is a related bill originating in the Senate, and it offers more inclusive benefits for patients, but we would settle for passage of the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act,” Jones said. “We oppose the practice of insurance companies setting standards for patient care and treatment.”
Health insurance plays a key factor in determining whether a woman undergoes a mastectomy as an inpatient or outpatient, according to a 2001 government study by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The study, conducted by Dr. Claudia Steiner, found that outpatient mastectomies were on the rise, but that a majority of mastectomy surgeries were still performed as inpatient procedures.
“Women without health insurance or those who were HMO members were 30 percent to 60 percent more likely to receive outpatient mastectomies than women with health insurance,” Dr. Steiner said.
According to the latest family health survey by the Ohio Department of Health, most Ohioans do not select their own health insurance provider, but rather their insurance is obtained through an employer.
While the incidence of breast cancer and outpatient mastectomies increase, the House and Senate continue to butt heads over the issues of inclusive health coverage.
