Update: October 24, 2000
Thanks to a nationwide grassroots effort the Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Act has passed and was signed into law by the President on October 24, 2000. 

IMPORTANT UPDATE October 5, 2000.
Click Here for Previous Alert and Important and Relevant Information on this Issue

The Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention and Treatment Act -- S. 662 passed the Senate on October 4, 2000, thanks in large part to the work of advocates across the country! The House overwhelmingly passed its version, H.R. 4386 on May 9, 2000 and we now need the two bills to be reconciled quickly in conference before the Congressional recess takes place later this month.

Efforts to enact this legislation are far from over and we need your continued help and support.

 

CALL TO ACTION

We need to urge the House Leadership to put the Senate-passed H.R. 4386, the Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Act, on the suspension calendar immediately.

Time is of the essence and the House of Representatives needs to adopt the language of the Senate-passed bill. Once the language is reconciled and identical (House and Senate versions) the House can vote on the bill, pass the legislation and move it to the President to sign into law.

It is imperative that a CLEAN BILL is passed. We have indications that members of Congress may try to attach amendments to the legislation to ride on the coattails of the Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention and Treatment Act. To do so under the constraints of the short timeline we are working under could kill this legislation and result in a death sentence for the underserved patients the legislation is intended to serve and to save. We also have reason to believe that Congressman Tom Coburn (R-OK) may try to block the legislation from the House of Representatives’ suspension calendar and from going to the House floor for a vote, period, unless the legislation is changed to accommodate specific language he wants put into the final version.

PLEASE ACT NOW and urge the House leadership to pass a clean bill, the Senate version of H.R. 4386 on suspension as soon as possible.

WE NEED YOU TO ACT DECISIVELY AND IMMEDIATELY to contact the following Members in the House Leadership with this message:

Pass the Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Act Now-before you leave for the October recess -- patients’ lives depend on it! Inaction to move this bill to the President’s desk this month will put all too many patients lives in jeopardy. PLEASE ACT NOW to pass a clean bill, the Senate version of H.R. 4386 on suspension as soon as possible.

 

Please call, e-mail and/or fax this message immediately to the following Members of the House of Representatives Leadership:

Speaker of the House, J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL): telephone: (202) 225-0600/2976; fax: 202-225-0697; e-mail: dhastert@mail.house.gov

Majority Leader, Richard Armey (R-TX): telephone: (202) 225-4000/7772; fax: 202-226-2028; e-mail: tx26@legislators.com

Majority Whip, Tom DeLay (R-TX): telephone: (202) 225-0197/5951; fax: 202-225-5241; e-mail: tx22@legislators.com

Minority Leader, Richard Gephardt (D-MO): telephone: (202) 225-0100/2671; fax: 202-225-7452; e-mail: gephardt@mail.house.gov

Minority Whip, David E. Bonior (D-MI): telephone: (202) 225-2106; fax: 202-226-1169; e-mail: davidbonior@mail.house.gov

Please call, e-mail and/or fax this message immediately to:

Congressman Tom Coburn (R-OK): telephone: (202) 225-2701; fax: 202-225-3038; e-mail: rep.coburn@mail.house.gov

 

Summary

The Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention and Treatment Act: The United States Senate passed H.R. 4386, to amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide medical assistance for certain patients screened and diagnosed with breast or cervical cancer under a federally funded screening program.

This important new legislation will give underserved and indigent patients who have been screened and diagnosed with breast and/or cervical cancer through the CDC's National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program the chance to receive vital treatment that is truly a matter of life and death. The Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention and Treatment Act will allow states the option of providing Medicaid services to medically underserved and indigent breast and cervical cancer patients.

Uninsured breast cancer patients are 49% more likely to die than are patients with health insurance during the four to seven years following their initial breast cancer diagnosis.

It is imperative and a moral obligation to provide life-saving treatment for medically indigent, underserved and uninsured breast and cervical cancer patients who are not able to pay for treatment on their own.

This important and long overdue legislation will give states the option of providing Medicaid coverage to low-income breast and cervical cancer patients who are diagnosed through the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC.

 

Background

It is estimated that breast and cervical cancer will claim more than half a million lives in this decade alone. Breast cancer is the number one killer of American women between the ages of 35 and 54. The reality is, cancer screening alone cannot save lives.

In 1990 legislation established the Center for Disease Control's National Breast and Cervical Early Detection Program. This vital program ensures that medically underserved women in this country receive regular breast and cervical cancer screening. Over 1.4 million women have been screened for breast or cervical cancer since 1991. More women are screened for these devastating diseases every day.

Early detection is a key weapon in the fight against cancer. The success of the CDC program is proven. Because of this program, over 6,800 uninsured, low-income women throughout the United States have breast been diagnosed with breast cancer. In addition, over 34,000 uninsured, low-income women across the U.S. have been diagnosed with either invasive cervical cancer or pre-cancerous cervical lesions.

It is estimated that breast and cervical cancer will claim more than half a million lives in this decade alone. Breast cancer is the number one killer of American women between the ages of 35 and 54. The reality is, cancer screening alone cannot save lives.

 

The Problem

When the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program passed in 1990, advocates and members of Congress wanted to ensure that patients screened and diagnosed with breast and cervical cancer through the CDC program would also receive appropriate treatment. The law was written to require states to seek out services for the women they screen in order to receive timely and appropriate treatment. Unfortunately, state programs are overwhelmed and connecting underserved patients to treatment services has been an enormous challenge. In too many cases, medically underserved and indigent patients are left with the burden of finding the money and resources necessary to receive life-saving treatment.

 

The Solution

Ensuring that the Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention and Treatment Act is signed into law by President Clinton over the next several days before Congress takes its fall recess.

 

The Bottom Line

A clean bill must be passed without any amendments. The language of the two bills must reconciled quickly in conference before the Congressional recess takes place later this month.