Legislation

June 15, 2021 WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) today re-introduced legislation to ensure breast cancer patients and survivors who have experienced a mastectomy are able to access custom breast prosthetics under Medicare. The Breast Cancer Patient Equity Act of 2021 would provide coverage for custom fabricated breast prostheses—which, unlike other prosthetic devices, are not currently covered by Medicare—to

Time is a precious commodity that you cannot buy or get back. Sometimes it’s time to act and sometimes it’s time to be patient. Renee Firato’s cancer journey is all about time, taking your time, the timing of surgeries, and the timing of life events. As she was just about to graduate from high school, Renee had her wisdom teeth removed and did not recover well, which ended up leading to the discovery of acute myelogenous leukemia. Within one week of getting her port placed on

May 11, 2021 WASHINGTON — U.S. Representatives Judy Chu (CA-27) and Jackie Walorski (IN-2) today re-introduced legislation to ensure breast cancer patients and survivors who have experienced a mastectomy are able to access custom breast prosthetics under Medicare. The Breast Cancer Patient Equity Act would provide coverage for custom fabricated breast prostheses, the only human body part not currently covered by Medicare, to the more than 144,000 women who undergo mastectomies annually. “Breast

Mastectomy and reconstruction surgeries are not completed without risk to the patient. Approximately 33% of women who opt for breast reconstruction after a mastectomy have surgical complications and 20% require more surgery. Jamie Lee is one of these statistics. Diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 33 as a wife and mother of two young children, Jamie decided she had a lot of life to live post-mastectomy. However, little did she know that a decision to try surgical breast reconstruction would

Jacqueline Cromity has been around breast prosthetics her entire life, but until you need them, you don’t understand the full impact they can make on a person’s life. Jacqueline’s story is one of perseverance. Not only does Jacqueline have a corporate career leading a team at Cisco, but she has a family, has three Survivor Friendly locations in N.C. and is still expanding. Survivor’s Friendly’s purpose is to create a one-stop-shop committed to improving the quality

The House of Representatives and Senate are both in session on April 15, 2020. Let’s make our voices heard and call our senators and representatives asking them to sign on to support S. 562/H.R. 1370, the Breast Cancer Patient Equity Act. The breast is one of the only body parts not covered by Medicare as a custom prosthetic replacement! Women deserve to make the choice for themselves. Please note, the call-in day that was scheduled on April 1, 2020 will now take place April 15, 2020 due

Update 3/31/20: Due to Coronavirus, the scheduled LHD Call-In has been postponed.  This was the activity highlighted in the recent Essential Advantage newsletter asking people to call their legislators to ask for support of The Breast Cancer Patient Equity Act, H.R. 1370/S. 562.  The original date referenced in the newsletter and our Facebook page was April 1st.  In the past week, we rescheduled for April 15th due to most Capitol buildings

By Krystal Brown, Insurance Coordinator at Dignity Products In October we received an Essentially Women email newsletter detailing Senator Duckworth’s visit to Second Act Mastectomy Boutique in Chicago. The gathering of breast cancer survivors and supporters was an inspiration. After reading the article I went and asked my boss, the owner of Dignity Products, Ondrea Meredith if she would like to host an event for the Breast Cancer Patient Equity Act. Ondrea was excited about the

It’s October! While we associate this month with everything pumpkin spice, caramel apples, cider and anything cozy, it’s also time to think pink. After all, October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. While the primary focus of Breast Cancer Awareness is about raising awareness for the disease, early detection, treatment, and finding a cure, we’d also like to focus on all of the amazing breast cancer survivors and making sure they have all of the options available to them following

Kim Neel of Alala When a woman hears she has beaten breast cancer, her life should improve. The fight is over, she’s in the clear, it’s time for things to go back to normal. But, as everyone in the industry knows, that is simply not the case. Side effects of the treatment that saved her life can lead to conditions like lymphedema – a condition that can cause fibrosis, infection, pain, and impaired functioning of the affected body part. Kim Neel, cofounder of Alala, has made it