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This month is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  As someone who has seen a spouse fight breast cancer, Congressman Scott has been a fighter for breast cancer resources for a long-time.  While a member of the Georgia State Senate, Congressman Scott passed the State law banning the practice of sending women home the same day after undergoing a mastectomy even if they needed more time to recuperate.

In Washington, Congressman Scott has continued his efforts to improve the health of women.  He voted in favor of H.R. 3590, the Patent Protection and Affordable Care Act, which includes free preventative services such as breast cancer screenings in all new health insurance plans.  In addition, the law:

• Requires all employer-sponsored health plans to cover proven preventive benefits without out-of-pocket expenses;
• Prohibits plans from charging women more than men for health;
• Bans the insurance industry practice of rejecting applicants with pre-existing conditions, which has been a barrier to care for many women;
• Prevents women and their families from bankruptcy by requiring health plans to limit annual out-of-pocket spending to no more than $5,000 for an individual and $10,000 for a family (it's lower for low income households). All health insurance plans over time will be required to contain a standardized annual out-of-pocket spending limit.

 

Other supportive efforts  Congressman Scott continues to support bills that improve health care outcomes for women by support bills concerning breast cancer research and supportive services for women living with breast cancer.  He has cosponsored:

o        H.R. 1691- Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act of 2009

o        H.R. 2350- Preserving Patient Access to Primary Care Act of 2009

o        H.R. 2778- Health Equity and Accountability through Research Act of 2009

o        H.R. 3090- Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2009

o        H.R. 1740- Breast Cancer Education and Awareness Requires Learning Young Act of 2009

o        H.Con.Res. 120- Supporting the goals and ideals of National Women's Health Week, and for other purposes.

o        H.Res.971- Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding guidelines for breast cancer screening for women ages 40 to 49.

For more information about testing and treatments for breast cancer, please visit the National Cancer Institute's website at this link.