A bill supporting funding for research to examine the environmental causes of breast cancer was recently passed in both chambers of Congress. The bill (see PDF) was sent to President Bush for approval this week.
Another bill (see PDF) that addresses hospital stays for breast cancer patients passed the House last week. This legislation would “require that health plans provide coverage for a minimum hospital stay for mastectomies, lumpectomies, and lymph node dissection for the treatment of breast cancer and coverage for secondary consultations.”
Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) sponsored the hospital stay bill and told the Connecticut Post that “when it comes to mastectomies and lumpectomies, adequate recovery time in the hospital should not be negotiable….the last thing any patient undergoing a mastectomy should have to deal with is fighting with her insurance company about a hospital stay.”
