Whats the scoop on Lifetime TVs on-line petition about post-mastectomy hospital stays?
Lifetime TV has assembled a web page to collect electronic signatures in support of a bill that would make it mandatory for insurance companies to cover a minimum two-day hospitalization stay for women undergoing a mastectomy. BCA doesn’t have an official stand on Lifetime’s petition. We’re not against the effort, but we also don’t plan to go out of our way to support the legislation. It’s a nice idea, I mean of course we don’t want mastectomy patients rushed out of the hospital—but then NOBODY should be rushed out of the hospital. Why should breast cancer patients be any different than all the others with debilitating illnesses who must suffer short hospital stays because of harsh insurance company policies and a generally disastrous health care system? The legislation encourages a trend of piece-meal legislation that wins rights for limited groups one-at-a-time instead of addressing the larger problem of an impersonal managed care system and the lack of universal access to quality he
