29-04-2025
‘We're worth more': Lawmakers, breast cancer survivors push for more testing, treatment
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — A group of Democratic lawmakers joined together on Tuesday not only as Senators and representatives, but as breast cancer survivors.
'Those four words, 'you have breast cancer', changed my life, but they didn't end it,' Representative Mary Belk said of her own diagnosis.
They want to help other women.
'Together we're here to bring forward the Save More Tatas Act, a piece of legislation not just built on policy but on lived experience,' Senator Sydney Batch said.
Senate Bill 553 does a few things.
'It makes sure that we actually have diagnostic and supplemental imaging for breast cancer that is covered on par with other routine cancer screenings,' Senator Batch, another breast cancer survivor, said.
'This bill also asks to invest $1.5 million to help recruit and retain mammography technologists in rural and underserved areas,' Senator Val Applewhite, another breast cancer survivor, said.
In simple terms, the bill expands access to advanced diagnostic screenings and treatments for women across the state, all in an effort to save lives.
'14,700 women approximately from North Carolina will have breast cancer this year,' Representative Belk said.
'This bill is about fairness, it's about access and it's about early detection. because catching cancer early can mean the difference between life or death,' Senator Batch said.
Similar Senate bills have been introduced in previous sessions and never made it to the floor for a vote. Similar bills have been passed in the House, but then stalled in the Senate.
'Sadly, the insurance companies, not all of them, but some of them, have been extremely resistant and they are the reason this bill has not moved in the Senate,' Senator Batch said.
But the women are banding together and say the fight is far from over.
'We are asking to draw attention to the outrageousness of putting a price tag on the life of women in North Carolina, somewhere between $700 and $1,200,' Senator Batch said. 'We're worth more than that.'
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