Stop Drive-thru Mastectomies

From Pink Ribbon Review:

The Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act was first introduced by Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) in 1996, after she met with Dr. Kristen Zarfos, a Connecticut surgeon who found herself constantly battling with insurance companies to keep her breast cancer patients in the hospital following mastectomy surgery.

The Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act would:

• Guarantee a minimum hospital stay of 48 hours for a woman having a mastectomy or lumpectomy, and 24 hours for a woman undergoing a lymph node removal;
• Require health plans to include notice of these benefits in their monthly mailing and yearly information packet sent to plan participants;
• Require plans to provide full coverage of second opinions should the patient seek one.
• The bill does not mandate a 48 hour hospital stay; nor does it set 48 hours as a maximum amount of time a woman can stay in the hospital. It simply ensures that any decision in favor of a shorter or longer hospital stay will be made by the patient and her doctor.
  

This bipartisan bill is modeled after the carefully crafted and widely-supported legislation that ended “drive-through” deliveries.

So this began twelve years ago and DeLauro has introduced the legislation in every meeting of Congress since that time. Congress meets every year....Congress has to debate this bill, the House of Representatives has to debate this bill, the Senate … the President. So we’ve got a ways to go with this one.

Sign the petition here (at "Be My Bra" - am I the only one who hates that name?). Or, even better, contact your representative and tell them you want to see this bill become law.