custom breast prosthesis

Grassroots advocacy is a term that is thrown around in politics, but what is it really? It is the process of communicating with the general public and asking them to contact their local, state or federal officials regarding a certain issue. Elected officials’ purpose should be to represent the views of their constituents. But how do they know what their constituents want unless their constituents speak out?  We know that every woman who experiences a mastectomy should

This week, Nikki Jensen and Tom Powers flew to Washington, D.C. to visit 28 offices to advocate for the Breast Cancer Patient Equity Act and to ask for legislators to sign on to support the legislation. This visit is the first since S. 562 and H.R. 1370 were introduced in March. Keeping our legislation in front of key committee members is incredibly important. Meeting with their staff allows us to explain the issue and let them know that constituents in their districts are asking for legislation. Currently,

Essentially Women has been working for the past year to have custom breast prosthesis covered by Medicare. Custom Breast Prosthesis legislation is about making sure women have ALL of the choices available to them, whether it be reconstruction, off the shelf breast prosthesis, custom breast prosthesis or to go flat. A little history on the Breast Cancer Patient Equality Act The Breast Cancer Patient Equality Act was originally introduced in 2011, during the 112th Congress by Senator Olympia

Waterloo, Iowa – March 1, 2019 – Representatives on both sides of the aisle re-introduced the Breast Cancer Patient Equity Act bill that, if passed, will expand Medicare coverage to include custom breast prosthesis as an option for women recovering from mastectomy surgery. The bipartisan bills S. 562 and H.R. 1370 were co-sponsored by Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Lisa Murkowsi (R-AK) in the Senate, along with Representatives Judy Chu (D-CA) and Jackie Walorski (R-IN) in the

Last week, I had the opportunity to participate in some advocacy training; I learned a lot! (And, that might be the biggest understatement of the year!) The recurring theme of this workshop was "One person can make a difference!" And, that is so true, especially with the Make Me Whole Again campaign.  So far, we have 625 letters sent to members of Congress; we have reached 146 lawmakers across 45 states. Thus far, we have three officially signed onto H.R. 6980. All three of these lawmakers signed

11/5/2018 We have had another great week of advocacy for the Make Me Whole Again campaign, to date we have 606 letters set to Congress. If you watched The Steele Report with Nikki Jensen (VGM - Essentially Women), Jill Roberts (NuCara - New Image Boutique) and Julie Gleason (Unity Point Cancer Center) you know that our window of opportunity of getting this bill passed is very small; so your advocacy efforts - whether they are big or small - are greatly appreciated!  One

In just over a month, over 500 letters have been sent to Congress asking for their support of the Make Me Whole Again Campaign; this is great progress. We officially have 3 members of Congress signed onto H.R. 6980; and many more ready! Today, where we need your support is getting the word out across the nation. I have a simple and easy task for you to help make this happen if you are a Facebook user. Go to https://www.facebook.com/MakeMeWholeAgain Click "Invite Friends" In the

10/22/2018 The Make Me Whole Again campaign had another great week, as of this morning, there are 512 letters sent to members of Congress and over the weekend, we received the official announcement that Rep. Steve King (R - IA) has signed onto H.R. 6980.  Through conversations we have learned that there are many congressmen who are interested in signing the bill; they just need the extra nudge/reminder to do so. That is where you come in!  This week I am asking that you contact

10/15/18 The Make Me Whole Again campaign has grown quite the following over the last week; I attribute much of that success to "word of mouth." As of this morning, we had 440 emails sent to Congress, which is 357 more than last week at this time! Continue to tell all your patients, friends, family members and acquaintances about the campaign. Hand them your phone or device pre-loaded to the campaign's "Take Action" center where they can send a pre-written letter to their member of Congress.  Another

10/8/2018 Last week a bill was introduced to the House of Representatives that would allow coverage for Custom Breast Prosthesis from Medicare. This bill has the opportunity to change lives for women across the nation - that is HUGE! So, where do you come in?  Now that we have a bill introduced, we need to activate our advocates. Essentially Women members have been e-mailed a toolkit, this toolkit was created to help make advocating for this legislation easier. There is a lot of information