All Tennessee Congress members should support cancer bill

In 2021 The Metastatic Breast Cancer Acces to Care Act (H.R. 549, S. 663) was introduced into the 118th Congress with bipartisan support. This critical legislation, which is pending, would waive the arbitrary, life-threatening 5-month waiting periods for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and 24-month waiting period for Medicare benefits for eligible individuals with metastatic breast cancer (MBC).

This fall, with the encouragement of the National Breast Cancer Coalition, a committee of breast cancer advocates formed a committee, the Tennessee Advocates for Breast Cancer (TA4BC) to organize a movement to reach out to our Tennessee legislators to cosponsor the Bill.

There are currently 220 Congresspeople signed on in the House and 29 Senate cosponsors, with only one Congressman from Tennessee (Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Memphis).

Metastatic breast cancer (MBC) accounts for 90 percent of breast cancer deaths, and the average life span expectancy has risen from 3 years. Current law forces those diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer to wait for Social Security Disability Insurance and Medicare benefits. This unnecessary waiting period forces patients into extreme economic hardship as they wait for the care they desperately need and deserve.

While metastatic breast cancer (MBC) is treatable, there is no cure. Living with MBC often limits a person's ability to maintain their employment and receive health benefits. Those who retire early need funds to cover their living expenses and access to life-prolonging treatment. Waiting 24 months to receive benefits is unacceptable, as many die waiting for benefits to begin.

Cancer has impacted the lives of countless Tennessee citizens, their family members and loved ones who support them. There are too many women and men in this country who have to deal with how to pay for treatment and how to support their families while they are dealing with metastatic breast cancer. Arbitrary rules prevent them from readily accessing the medical care they need.

We in the Tennessee Advocates for Breast Cancer (TA4BC) committee are working hard to get cosponsors for this important legislation.

We ask our community to write, email or call their Representative and Senator in Congress to encourage them to sign on to this important bipartisan legislation.

Sylvia Cappellino, chairperson,
Tennessee Advocates for Breast Cancer