I saw this over at "Let's Gab", and thought it too important not to share:
There's a bill called the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act which will require insurance companies to cover a minimum 48-hour hospital stay for patients undergoing a mastectomy. It's about eliminating the 'drive-through mastectomy' where women are forced to go home just a few hours after surgery, against the wishes of their doctor, still groggy from anesthesia and sometimes with drainage tubes still attached.
From a nurse:
I'll never forget the look in my patients eyes when I had to tell them they had to go home with the drains, new exercises and no breast. I remember begging the Doctors to keep these women in the hospital longer, only to hear that they would, but their hands were tied by the insurance companies. So there I sat with my patient giving them the instructions they needed to take care of themselves, knowing full well they didn't grasp half of what I was saying, because the glazed, hopeless, frightened look spoke louder than the quiet 'Thank you' they muttered.
A mastectomy is when a woman's breast is removed in order to remove cancerous breast cells/tissue. If you know anyone who has had a mastectomy, you may know that there is a lot of discomfort and pain afterward. Insurance companies are trying to make mastectomies an outpatient procedure. Let's give women the chance to recover properly in the hospital for 2 days after surgery.
Mastectomy Bill in Congress
It takes 2 seconds to do this and is very important .. please take the time and do it really quick!
Breast Cancer Hospitalization Bill - Important legislation for all women.
If there was ever a time when our voices and choices should be heard, this is one of those times. If you're receiving this, it's because I think you will take the 30 seconds to go to vote on this issue and send it on to others you know who will do the same.
There's a bill called the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act which will require insurance companies to cover a minimum 48-hour hospital stay for patients undergoing a mastectomy. It's about eliminating the 'drive-through mastectomy' where women are forced to go home just a few hours after surgery, against the wishes of their doctor, still groggy from anesthesia and sometimes with drainage tubes still attached.
Lifetime Television has put this bill on their Web page with a petition drive to show your support. Last year over half the House signed on.
PLEASE!! Sign the petition by clicking on the Web site below. You need not give more than your name and zip code number.
We owe it to ourselves to sign this petition and stop insurance companies from treating patients like nuisances and instead think of them as human beings whose bodies have been through traumatic stress and need the time and care to recover. Let your voice be heard and show these huge companies that we are not going to put up with it - we deserve much, much better.
Labels: making a difference
posted by Stacy~ at 7/11/2007 05:56:00 AM
Thanks for posting this here, Stacy. Things are just getting too far out of control... the insurance companies trying to dictate how long a patient needs to recover is just outrageous, and imagine after having such a traumatic surgery? Thanks for making a difference. :-)
byWill do!
byI'm on it, Stacy!
byThank you, sweetie. I've seen this several times, but it's never too much. :o)
byI had never seen it, and I think it's important that the word gets out. Thanx Anne, for the link, and to all of you who've signed the petition, and for people like Jenster who are fighting the fight every day. You are true heroes.
byI tried to do it but it wouldn't let me b/c I'm in Canada and didn't like my postcode. Terrible though.
by