SB 494
, authored by Senator Troy Carter, is scheduled to be heard
tomorrow (May 6)
at 10:30 a.m. in the Senate Committee on Insurance.
This bill would close a loophole in current law that allows some insurance providers to agree they must cover the reconstruction of a breast which has been preventatively or prophylactically removed, but NOT the actual preventative or prophylactic mastectomy.
"Consider this situation: A woman is diagnosed with breast cancer in her left breast and decides, in consultation with her physician, to have both her left and right breasts removed by mastectomy and to have both breasts reconstructed. Some insurance companies will pay for the mastectomy on the left breast and the reconstruction of both breasts, but it will NOT pay for the mastectomy of the right breast. Without insurance coverage for the prophylactic mastectomy, many women cannot afford to pay for that mastectomy, thus foregoing reconstruction covered by law and living with non-symmetrical breasts for the rest of her life."
We request you take one of the following actions to support this bill by 10 a.m. tomorrow (May 6):
- Submit a Green Card: Send an email to Cathy Wells (wellsc@legis.la.gov) requesting that your note be considered as a green card in support of SB 494. Include your name, address, affiliation, and the date.
- Send a Letter: Draft a letter to Senate Insurance Committee members in support of SB 494 and email it to Cathy Wells (wellsc@legis.la.gov). Click here to view Kim Sport's submission as a sample.
