The following letter, authored by NBCC President Fran Visco, was sent to Representative Jason Smith (R-MO-8), chair of the House Ways & Means Committee, and Representative Richard Neal (D-MA-1), ranking member.
June 4, 2026
The Honorable Jason Smith
US House of Representatives
1101 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable Richard Neal
US House of Representatives
1501 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Chairman Smith and Ranking Member Neal,
On behalf of the hundreds of organizations and tens of thousands of individuals who make up the National Breast Cancer Coalition, I urge you to take action now on HR 2048, the Metastatic Breast Cancer Access to Care Act, a bill under the jurisdiction of the Ways & Means Committee. This bill currently has the support of 241 bipartisan members of Congress, including two-thirds of the Ways & Means Committee.
I noted with interest the Chairman’s opening statement in the May 21 Ways & Means Committee markup:
Americans should be able to get quality care in the communities where they live and work, yet for the 60 million Americans in this country who rely on Medicare, outdated and unfair rules make this difficult. The policies in our legislation cut through the Washington red tape, hurting access to care.
I agree with this important sentiment. Yet the Metastatic Breast Cancer Access to Care Act, a bipartisan bill that waives outdated and unfair Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Medicare waiting periods for eligible individuals, languishes in your committee. The question is not “why this bill and why now” but rather “How many more individuals have to die before Congress passes this long-overdue legislation?”
This legislation would help those like Missouri resident Tiana Russell. Tiana is a single mother who was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer in 2020. While she worked as long as she could, in 2025 Tiana was forced to leave her job due to her illness. She has been living on savings, but those funds are running dry, and she is struggling to secure financial support for her health care and to provide basic needs for herself and her son. Eliminating the waiting periods Tiana is currently subject to will provide her with much-needed income through SSDI and, importantly, health care through Medicare.
HR 2048 waives the waiting periods for Medicare and SSDI for individuals under 65 and diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer who already qualify for these benefits. Based on the limited life expectancy of individuals with metastatic disease, an average of 3 years, there is no time to wait. Women and men are dying waiting for benefits they qualify for and have paid for through employment taxes.
I’m attaching a list of more than 100 breast cancer and other allied organizations that support this bill.
Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member, it is well past time to consider the Metastatic Breast Cancer Access to Care Act. While, unfortunately, it is already too late for too many of our loved ones, I ask you to act urgently to help many others like Tiana. We look forward to working with you to pass this important legislation this year.
Sincerely,
Fran Visco
President, National Breast Cancer Coalition
CC: House Leadership
House Ways & Means Committee
