Washington, DC – On Tuesday, June 23, advocates from across the country will be on Capitol Hill to meet with key members of Congress to advance the Metastatic Breast Cancer Access to Care Act (HR 2048/S 3442), legislation to waive the cruel and arbitrary waiting periods for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits and Medicare that eligible individuals with metastatic breast cancer face. The next step toward passage: a markup in the House Ways and Means Committee.
“The Metastatic Breast Cancer Access to Care Act has 250 bipartisan cosponsors, including 2/3 of the Ways and Means Committee, yet the bill is languishing in the Committee,” said Fran Visco, president of the National Breast Cancer Coalition (NBCC). “Lip service isn’t enough. It’s time for Congress to act. How many more people must die before Congress passes this long-overdue legislation?”
Metastatic breast cancer is cancer that has spread from the breast to distant parts of the body. Ninety percent of breast cancer deaths are a result of metastatic disease. While some treatments have extended survival, there is no cure. Once diagnosed, a person’s life expectancy is, on average, three years.
Under current law, people with a metastatic breast cancer diagnosis who meet eligibility requirements must wait to access the benefits they earned, paid for, and desperately need: 5 months for SSDI, then 24 months for Medicare—for no reason.
For T’Ana, an NBCC advocate from Virginia, this fight is personal. Forced to choose between supporting her family and taking medication to treat her metastatic breast cancer, “I’m always going to choose providing for my children before depleting my funds to afford medication,” said Johnson. “I don’t want to lose my home. I’m getting further in debt, and that’s where a lot of people like me are.”
“Now is the time to act. Women are dying while we wait,” said Visco. “Congress, what are you waiting for?”
Learn more about NBCC’s Metastatic Breast Cancer Access to Care Act campaign and take action now.
About the National Breast Cancer Coalition (NBCC): NBCC’s mission is to end breast cancer. We are a collaboration of activists, survivors, grassroots groups, and other stakeholders who have come together as disruptive innovators for social change. We link hundreds of organizations and tens of thousands of individuals from across the country into a dynamic, diverse coalition giving breast cancer a meaningful voice in Washington, DC, and state capitals; in laboratories and health care institutions; and in local communities everywhere. To learn more and join the movement, visit stopbreastcancer.org.
