Latest news with #SaveMoreTatasAct
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
'We should be mad as hell': NC legislators who've survived breast cancer seek improved detection
A radiologist reviews the results of a mammogram. (Photo: Getty images) When Senate Democratic Leader Sydney Batch (D-Wake) was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 39, she was not thinking about the cost of treatment. She was only thinking about her boys. 'My kids were five and seven. I was just thinking about whether or not I would live long enough to be able to dance with my sons at their weddings,' Batch recalled at a Tuesday press conference. Batch, a primary sponsor of Senate Bill 553, said the 'Save More Tatas Act' would provide health coverage parity for breast cancer diagnostic imaging. Far too many women in North Carolina don't get diagnosed with breast cancer early, because they don't get the proper diagnostic treatment and preventative treatment that would save their lives. 'Most importantly, you sure as heck shouldn't be in a situation where women are denied access because they can't afford the actual screenings,' said Sen. Batch. Sen. Val Applewhite (D-Cumberland) said when she retired from the United States Air Force after 20 years, she received a screening mammogram as she was processed out of the military. It came back normal. A year later she credits divine intervention with saving her life. 'My mother, who had passed years earlier, came to me in my dream. She said, 'Val, go get a mammogram.' So, I made the appointment. And that's when I got the diagnosis, I had breast cancer. I was lucky.' Applewhite was lucky that she was working at the Pentagon. She received her cancer treatment at Bethesda Naval Medical Center, the same place the President of the United States receives medical care. 'That access, plain and simple, is what saved my life. Too many people in North Carolina don't have that,' said Applewhite. The Cumberland County Democrat said another portion of SB 553 would allocate $3.5 million to help recruit and retain mammography technologists in rural and underserved areas. Rep. Mary Belk (D-Mecklenburg) is yet another member of this extraordinary sorority of breast cancer survivors. Belk said she had finished a grueling day of campaigning in 2016 when she felt something. She didn't want to call it a lump. That was too scary. But she made time for an overdue breast exam. 'I heard the words that no one wants to hear: You have breast cancer,' said Belk. 'I was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer, three months before my first election.' Approximately 14,700 women in North Carolina will have breast cancer this year. Fourteen hundred will not survive, Belk said. But with first rate care, her cancer went into remission. She was one of the lucky few who did not worry about the cost of imaging. 'Women who need these medically necessary tests are skipping them because they cannot afford the co-pays,' said Belk. Breast MRIs in North Carolina can cost anywhere between $260 and over $1,300, depending on one's health plan. Belk is the primary sponsor of House Bill 297. The Breast Cancer Prevention Imaging Parity bill would require insurance companies to cover diagnostic, screening as well as supplemental breast exams to the same extent as mammograms. This coverage is especially important for women with dense breasts who are at risk of being diagnosed at later stages. Sheila Mikhail falls into that category. The self-described 'serial, biotech entrepreneur' created multiple companies in the Research Triangle Park along with thousands of well-paying jobs. Yet when cancer was found in her left breast, she repeatedly had to push for additional screenings of her right breast. The oncologist told her she was causing a 'ruckus', but the office would do a supplemental test at a cost of $1,200. The breast MRI found a second tumor that was not detected by an ultrasound or a diagnostic mammogram. 'I was fortunate because I could afford to pay. I found my right tumor just before it metastasized.' Mikhail wants lawmakers to pass both HB 297 and SB 553 and have insurance companies cover supplemental ultrasounds and MRIs for breast cancer. But the time to pass these bills this session is growing short. May 8th marks the crossover deadline for bills to pass at least one chamber to stay eligible for consideration. Senate Bill 553 has been stuck in the Rules committee since March. Belk's bill ('Breast Cancer Prevention Imaging Parity') was approved by three House committees, but before a floor vote in mid-April, it was withdrawn from the House calendar and kicked back to the Rules committee. No reason was provided. Batch said she has had many, many conversations with her Republican colleagues, but faces opposition because some insurance companies don't want another mandate that requires them to pay for additional coverage. Sen. Applewhite said this should not be a partisan issue. She'd like female voters to call their representatives. 'You know our breasts are not Democrats or Republicans, but the men in this building that have power, don't help us — won't help us save lives. We should be mad as hell.'
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
‘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.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
