President Clinton Signs Breast Cancer Bill

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President Clinton Signs Breast Cancer Bill President Clinton Signs Breast Cancer Bill Low-Income, Uninsured Women Guaranteed Breast Cancer Treatment (Washington, DC) Yesterday, President Clinton signed the Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Act (H.R. 4386) into law. This law, which the National Breast Cancer Coalition (NBCC) and its members have been working to pass for four years, will guarantee treatment to low-income, uninsured women screened and diagnosed with breast and cervical cancer through a federal program.

NBCC and its nationwide grassroots advocacy network are extremely proud of their crucial role in working to get this legislation passed and secure treatment for women diagnosed through this program. This law, effective immediately, creates a life-saving link between diagnosis and treatment that has existed since the program began a decade ago. Prior to passage of this legislation, women screened and diagnosed through this program had no guarantee for treatment.

Until yesterday, low-income, uninsured women (many of whom are among the working poor) could be screened free of charge through a federally funded program, but were not guaranteed treatment once diagnosed. NBCC's grassroots members worked non-stop - calling, faxing, e-mailing - whatever it took to make sure these women would be guaranteed treatment. They would not be ... more. less.

ignored. In fact, one Member of Congress said, 'My office was besieged with calls and faxes from women and men in my state trying to get this bill voted on and passed.' Under this legislation, states would have the option to enroll women diagnosed through the program in Medicaid to receive the treatment and services they need. States that choose to provide breast and cervical cancer treatment as an optional benefit would receive an enhanced match to encourage participation in establishing this benefit. 'As the bill officially went into effect yesterday, now is an important and appropriate time to honor those women who died before this program went into place - before diagnosis and treatment were inextricably linked for these low-income women,' said Fran Visco, NBCC President. 'We look forward to a public celebration at the White House after the election to focus on the law, the women who will have access to care and the incredible grassroots network of the National Breast Cancer Coalition,' continued Visco. NBCC is a grassroots organization dedicated to ending breast cancer through the power of action and advocacy. The Coalition's main goals are to increase federal funding for breast cancer research and collaborate with the scientific community to design and implement new models of research; improve access to high quality health care and breast cancer clinical trials for all women, and; expand the influence of breast cancer advocates in all aspects of the breast cancer decision-making process. # # # National Breast Cancer Coalition Fund http://www.stopbreastcancer.org/Powered by Joomla!Generated: 3 August, 2010, 10:01

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