In Advance of Mother’s Day and National Women’s Health Week, Brown Introduces Legislation to Ensure More Breast Cancer Patients are Informed of Post-Surgery Treatment Options

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In advance of Mother’s Day and National Women’s Health Week next week, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), along with U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO), introduced legislation to ensure all breast cancer patients have access to information about their care, treatment, and reconstruction options.

“We need to do more to fight breast cancer and better inform women about their reconstructive care options. The Breast Cancer Patient Education Act will help ensure that all women – and especially women of racial and ethnic minority groups – are informed of all of their options prior to surgery,” Brown said. “An overwhelming majority of women are not informed of their breast cancer reconstructive options, even though by law any insurance plan that covers breast cancer treatment must also cover reconstruction or prosthetic care. The Breast Cancer Patient Education Act would ensure all women are informed of their care options prior to breast cancer surgery, so that they can benefit from a systematic plan of care from the start of treatment.”

The Breast Cancer Patient Education Act of 2015 would direct the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to plan and implement an education campaign to inform breast cancer patients of the availability and coverage of breast reconstruction and other options.

According to the American Cancer Society, breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in women after cancers of the skin. The disease affects almost one in every eight women, and it is the second leading cause of cancer death in women. In addition, it has been found that breast cancer has a disproportionate and detrimental impact on African-American women. In fact, African-American women under the age of 40 have a greater incidence of breast cancer than Caucasian women of the same age. Breast cancer is the most common cancer among Hispanic women.

The Women’s Health and Cancer Rights Act of 1998 requires health plans that offer breast cancer coverage to also provide for breast reconstruction and prostheses, but according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, only 33 percent of eligible women with breast cancer undergo breast reconstruction. Research also indicates that nearly 70 percent of women are not informed of all of their care options by their general surgeon prior to surgery.

Minority women were significantly less likely than Caucasians to see a plastic surgeon before initial surgery, were most likely to desire more information about reconstruction, and satisfaction was lowest among minority women without reconstruction.  Lower health literacy, financial issues, and less access to plastic surgeons emerged as barriers to reconstruction in the 2009 Alderman study.

Although several states have enacted laws to require that women receive thorough information on their breast cancer treatment and reconstruction options, women across the United States – including Ohio – deserve access to this vital information. The Breast Cancer Patient Education Act of 2015 will help inform and empower breast cancer patients anticipating surgery, especially patients who are members of racial and ethnic minority groups, so that they can make fully-informed health care decisions that best meet their personal needs.

U.S. Sens. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Deb Fischer (R-NE), and Mazie Hirono (D-HI) are cosponsors.

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