Female Lawmakers Use Personal Health Battles To Shape Views On Legislation

Main Category: Breast Cancer
Also Included In: Health Insurance / Medical Insurance
Article Date: 14 Oct 2009 - 4:00 PDT

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Some female members of Congress are drawing on their personal medical experiences to support their views on health legislation that would affect women, CQ Today reports. For example, Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy (D-Ohio), who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis six years ago, cited her own experiences with the disease in a "Dear Colleague" letter she sent last week in support of health reform. "It is a serious disease, but I am lucky to have insurance that pays for most of the cost of the expensive drugs that slow its progression and help prevent disability," Kilroy wrote.

Similarly, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), who was diagnosed with breast cancer in December 2007, introduced legislation (HR 1740) in March that would raise awareness about early breast cancer detection. According to CQ Today, both Kilroy and Wasserman Schultz support the inclusion of a public insurance option in health reform legislation and believe that "fighting a serious disease -- at the same time a patient is fighting for insurance coverage -- is too difficult."

Rep. Sue Myrick (R-N.C.), a member of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health, drew on her experiences fighting breast cancer in her response to President Obama's radio address on health care. Myrick, who opposes a public insurance option, said the process of diagnosing her cancer took multiple doctors and tests but "only a few weeks," and she claimed that public health insurance would have created delays (Miller, CQ Today, 10/12).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women's Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women's Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.

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