H.R. 1370 – Breast Cancer Patient Equity Act was introduced into Congress on 26 th Feb 2019 by Ms. Judy Chu of California. The purpose of H.R. 1370 legislation is to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to offer coverage for custom fabricated breast prostheses after breast removal (Congress.gov, 2019). However, H.R. 1370 legislation is still under review before the House of Representatives. The African House of Representatives and the Senate in Congress made different findings that support the act. The legislation was reintroduced so that, if it may be passed, it may expand the Medicare coverage to include breast prosthesis to assist women in recovering from mastectomy surgery.
This bill is now on the policy agenda due to various findings that were found by Congress. The Congress found that recently in the United States, more than 3,500,000 women have a history of breast cancer and many of these women have experienced unconstructed breast loss (Congress.gov, 2019). In 2018, it was found that above 260,000 women were found to have severe breast cancer that needed surgery and many of them had to have their breast surgically removed. Also, the United States had more than 40,000 women who were found to have a high mortality rate due to breast cancer in 2018.
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Congress found that every year, in the United States, there are 144,000 who have undergone breast removal (Mastectomies). The number of breast removal in the United States is alarming because it has increased at the rate of 30 percent among women from the age of 18 to 34 years and increased by 15 percent among women from the age of 35 to 44 years old. In addition, breast reconstruction surgery has different outcomes since such surgery has its associated risks. Congress identified that there is an increase in women who prefer surgical breast reconstruction and many of the women also do not have the viable choice of custom fabricated prosthetic breasts to replace the lost breast. Another finding is that the older women and younger women have a low chance of being provided or go through breast reconstruction and they are also disproportionately disadvantaged due to unavailability of access to the choice of custom fabricated prosthetic breast.
According to research, recently, the Medicare program offers reimbursement and coverage for custom fabricated prostheses for all the body parts besides breasts that has been lost. Since the Medicare program does not offer payment for custom fabricated breast prostheses, many private insurance organizations have begun reducing their payment for them. In general, the findings prove that women who suffer from breast cancer need to have the best access to care and enable them to make a choice after mastectomy. Most importantly, the legislation is now on the policy agenda since it will be beneficial to the women who are affected by breast cancer (Congress.gov, 2019). This legislation will enable healthy and safe recovery of women after mastectomy.
Current research on this legislation shows that the United States House of Representatives have introduced the legislation waiting for it to be passed to the Senate. Also, current research shows that the legislation has been referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce and also to the committee on Ways and Means for considerations. There have been previous efforts to address this legislation (Essential Women, 2019). Through #LetHerDecide campaign, the Breast Cancer Patient Equality Act was an effort of women and People for Quality Care, a division of VGM Group, Inc. This effort encouraged those who were suffering from breast cancer to advocate for the legislation, and enable women to have a choice among off-the-shell prostheses, reconstructive surgery, custom breast prostheses or going flat after a mastectomy.
References
Congress.gov. (2019). H.R.1370 - Breast Cancer Patient Equity Act . Retrieved from https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house- bill/1370/text?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22p%22%5D%7D
Essentially Women. (2019, March 1). Breast Cancer Patient Equity Act bill re-introduced in Congress . https://www.essentiallywomen.com/blog/post/breast-cancer-patient-equity- act-bill-re-introduced-in-congress
