One minute activist:

Support the Metastatic Breast Cancer Access to Care Act

There are currently more than 155,000 women and men living with metastatic breast cancer in the United States. While metastatic breast cancer can be treated, there is no cure. Under current regulations, metastatic breast cancer patients are subject to a
5-month waiting period for Social Security Disability Insurance and a 24-month waiting period for eligible Medicare benefits.

The Metastatic Breast Cancer Access to Care Act will provide metastatic breast cancer patients access to the care they need by waiving the 5-month waiting period for Social Security Disability insurance and the 24-month waiting period for eligible Medicare benefits. If you support the initiative, then contact your local officials with just one click.

https://p2a.co/1IAk8fo

FYI:

Sens. Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) have introduced the Access to Breast Cancer Diagnosis (ABCD) Act.

Under current law, insurers are only required to cover 100 percent of the cost of screening mammograms, pushing no costs onto patients. But if that mammogram reveals an abnormality, patients then must pay out-of-pocket for any additional medically-necessary diagnostic imaging. Those tests can involve an ultrasound, breast MRI or diagnostic mammogram to determine if a biopsy is required.

The legislation would eliminate out-of-pocket costs for medically-necessary diagnostic imaging.

The House bill was introduced by Rep. Debbie Dingell [D-MI-12].

Senate bill is 3216 and the House bill is 2428. You can find the proposed legislation here:

https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senat...

and here:

https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house...

Issue brief:

Stalled Federal Efforts to End Surprise Billing — The Role of Private Equity

Though U.S. legislation targeting the problem of surprise medical bills advanced out of key congressional committees in 2019 with support from leaders in both parties, Congress ultimately failed to pass a law to end surprise medical bills.

An estimated 20% of U.S. emergency-department visits, 9% of inpatient admissions, and more than half of ambulance or air-ambulance transports involve an out-of-network provider. {FYI: you rarely have a choice about where the ambulance take you!}

More than half of U.S. states have enacted some protections against surprise medical bills. States have tried a variety of approaches to protect the public. State regulations do not protect people covered by a self-insured employer plans because of the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

The key sticking point to enacting federal legislation is determining how much health plans would pay an out-of-network provider in surprise-billing situations. In December 2019, the Senate HELP and House E&C committees reached a compromise regarding how to accomplish this. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that both the Senate HELP and House E&C bills would reduce the federal deficit by more than $20 billion over a decade! Less than a week after the compromise was announced, the House Ways & Means (W&M) committee modified its position and Congress ended the year without passing any legislation on this issue.

The strongest opposition came from a shadowy lobbying effort by private-equity–backed physician-staffing companies that profit from out-of-network billing strategies. One group spent $28 million in ads opposing the legislation. The House W&M leaders who thwarted the compromise appeared to be influenced by the large donations and lobbying pressure.

Congress has resumed efforts to curb surprise medical bills in 2020. Deep-pocketed private equity firms continue to oppose any legislation that cuts into their profits.

Article author: Erin C. Fuse Brown, J.D., M.P.H., Georgia State University College of Law, Atlanta. The article was published on February 19, 2020, at NEJM.org.

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1916443...

{NEJM offers free registration and access to 3 articles per month without a paid subscription. Libraries may offer access.}

{Call and write you legislators! If anyone locates a link to a "one minute activist" tool, please post it. Thanks.}

Yeah! Welcome Karenfizedbo15!

FYI

The American Cancer Society has a Cancer Action Network that advocates around a variety of cancer-related issues. You can learn more and decide whether to sign up here:

https://www.fightcancer.org/

Lots of good information on this site. You can also find state-specific information.

One minute activist for Virginians:

Please ask your state legislators to pass SB 172 and finally end balance billing.

This session, the Virginia General Assembly has an opportunity to protect patients from surprise bills for emergency medical services — but your legislator needs to hear from you.

Senator Barbara Favola has sponsored legislation, SB 172, that will protect patients and require insurance companies to pay their fair share.

The Virginia Senate has already passed SB 172 once this year, but we need your help to get it through the House of Delegates and onto the Governor's desk so it can become law. The General Assembly is scheduled to adjourn on March 7, so we are running out of time to pass this critical legislation. That's why it is critical for your legislators to hear from you today! Please e-mail your state legislators and ask them to vote yes on SB 172!

{Note: I have not carefully investigated the specific provisions of this proposed legislation, but given its sponsors, I am inclined to think that it will be an improvement over not having the legislation.}

Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association Action Center

https://app.muster.com/take-action/L2vGjvd8Pr/

That is excellent, Karenfizedbo15! Thanks for sharing!

{Others, it is a brief video about some challenging aspects of living with MBC. < 2 minutes to watch. Very well done - compelling.}

FYI:

If you would like to read about the American Nurses Association position on and concerns about Medicaid block grants, you can find a relevant post here:

... ANA supports the protections included in this proposal for individuals with HIV and behavioral health conditions, it is essential that CMS and the states ensure that no citizen or resident loses access to comprehensive healthcare services...Key areas to address include access choice of provider, healthcare workforce issues, and accountability for healthcare quality.

https://anacapitolbeat.org/2020/02/27/medicaid-hea...

Good luck, Karenfizedbo15 & thanks for being an advocate!

As points of reference, I just want to be sure that you know about:

Our "compassionate allowance" under Social Security Disability Insurance in the US. It means that with a MBC diagnosis, we automatically qualify for benefits after @ 6 months. Other disabled people here have to apply and often wait years to get benefits. (I can send you links if that would be helpful.)

Of course, we post a lot about the MBC Access to Care Act which is pending before Congress. It would eliminate the waiting periods both for Social Security Disability Insurance and to get on Medicare (which is @ 30 months for those of us under 65). The disability piece sounds quite similar to what you are talking about.

I don't know how it works in the UK. Do you get disability benefits after 6 months? Do people have alternative sources of benefits (income) in the UK? In the US, we often have disability insurance which will tide-us-over through our workplaces, but sometimes those plans pay a very small % of one's regular pay.

Thanks for sharing information. Good luck with your advocacy.

FYI

What are Federal Comments? What Do They Do?

https://healthlaw.org/what-are-federal-comments-wh...

{Brief but information piece about what comments are and why they matter.}

The Lymphedema Treatment Act website has shared 5 ways you can make a difference from home this week:

Action #1: Send a postcard to your Senators and Representative - the addresses are provided at these links. Postcards are better than letters or cards, because anything in an envelope is delayed for security screening.

Action #2: Share our Social Media posts from D.C. - look for the hashtag #LTALobbyDays on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Action #3: Reach out to your Members of Congress on Social Media - sample message provided.

Action #4: Call your Senators and Representative - the phone number, cosponsor status and corresponding call scripts are all provided.

Action #5: Email your Senators and Representative - template letters provided for each, all in one easy form.

If you plan to be in the DC area at any time and would like information about meeting with a congressional office about the Lymphedema Treatment Act please contact them.

https://lymphedematreatmentact.org/lymphedema-lobb...

One minute activist:

Many of us in the cancer community are feeling pretty vulnerable right now. If you would like to "Tell Congress: Pass Paid Sick Days for Coronavirus Prevention" here is a templated/automated letter.

"Public health experts are urging workers to stay home if they're sick in order to curb the spread of COVID-19, the coronavirus. But what about the 32 million people across the country that work but don't have any paid sick days?

It's this simple: paid sick days will help limit the spread of coronavirus outbreaks, but far too many people – many of them in the food service industry – don't have access to any and can't afford to miss work! We all need access to this commonsense protection during times of emergency, like right now, and in non-emergency times when working people and sick kids need to stay home with the flu or common cold without risking their family's financial security.

>>> Tell your U.S. Members of Congress to PASS a national standard for paid sick days, which would protect public health and family economic security – a boost for our economy!" Sponsor is the organization Moms Rising.

https://action.momsrising.org/sign/HFA_Coronavirus...

Another one minute activist opportunity related to sick days.

This one sponsored by Time's Up.

"Tell Congress to Pass Paid Sick Leave for All Workers

The coronavirus poses a threat to the health and safety of millions of workers. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has advised workers to stay home if they are sick or have been exposed to the virus. And yet tens of millions of U.S. workers are not guaranteed any paid sick days.

That's unacceptable. All workers deserve access to paid sick days — now more than ever."

times.upnow.us/2U16Szh