2025 State Advocacy Day a Great Success!
Dawn Anderson
(May 2025)
On Wednesday, April 23, a very engaged and motivated group of 19 advocates, all of whom had moving stories to share, held 33 meetings in legislative offices and did at least 12 additional packet drop offs. Our target was all of the members of the Assembly and Senate Health committees and other key members in the legislature.
Advocates started the day bright and early, getting to know a little about each other and preparing for our day of meetings. Our mission for the day was to inform legislators about Gail’s Law and encourage their support for this legislation, which will undoubtedly save lives in Wisconsin.
We were grateful to have Doug Hyant from Senator Mark Spreitzer’s office join us to share tips for productive meetings. Doug also gave some background on how a bill progresses through the legislature and good “touch points” along the way for advocates to be reaching out to their representatives.
We were also happy to have Senator Rachael Cabral-Guevara — Gail’s Law lead sponsor — stop in for a visit to share why she feels this legislation is so important, allowing us all a chance to thank her for being such a strong champion of the bill.
WBCC Board and Policy Committee member Ashley Inda then reviewed the details of Gail’s Law and shared data supporting our position that this bill, as written, is critical to ensuring access to early detection for all women.
Erin Fabrizius, a contract lobbyist for the Wisconsin Radiological Society and a member of the Early Detection Saves Lives Coalition, walked everyone through the changes in the bill draft from last session and answered excellent questions from the group.
All of this preparation ensured that our advocates were ready for an afternoon blitz of meetings as we set out from our base camp in four small teams. Thank you to my fellow team leaders Ashley Inda, Dana Johnson (WBCC Board President) and Lindsey O’Connor (Immediate Past President).
It was a great day, but we have a lot of hard work ahead of us! The bill has begun circulating for cosponsorships. If you haven’t seen our Action Alert, please find it here and make your calls to your representatives. There is good support for this bill – it’s our job now to lock it down and get cosponsors’ names on the bill. Stay tuned for more updates as hearings get scheduled and our advocates have another chance to tell their stories and help move Gail’s Law forward!
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Read about past Advocacy Days below:
2023 Advocacy Day
Dawn Anderson
(April 2023)
WBCC Advocates were back in Madison on April 19 after a four-year hiatus due to COVID and the legislature adjourning early in March of 2022. While we conducted a virtual Advocacy Day in fall of 2021, nothing compares to being together in our teams and sitting down in legislative offices! Our team of 17 conducted more than 35 meetings with legislators and staff in support of Senate Bill 121/Assembly Bill 117.
We picked up some key support for this bi-partisan bill. This bill will require Wisconsin insurers to cover supplemental screenings and diagnostic tests without cost sharing for women who:
- are considered at increased risk based on National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines or
- have heterogeneously or extremely dense breast tissue based on American College of Radiology guidelines
Senator Rachael Cabral-Guevara (R-19) is our champion on this bill and chairs the Senate Health Committee, where a hearing will be held for the bill in late May (date TBD). At least 5 WBCC patient advocates will be testifying in person in support of the bill.
Representative Clint Moses (R-29) is chair of the Assembly Health Committee and committed to our advocates that he would hold a hearing for the bill this summer. If you are in his district, please give his office a call and thank him for his support! This will be an uphill climb in the Assembly.
As part of our follow up to Advocacy Day and our work on this bill, we are asking for calls to be made to the following representatives. If you live in their district, please call and ask that they vote YES on SB 121/AB 117. It will save women’s lives!
Senator Andre Jacque (R-01), Senate Health Committee – 608-266-3512
Senator Patrick Testin (R-24), Senate Health Committee – 608-266-3123
Representative Robin Vos (R-63), Assembly Speaker – 608-237-9163
2021 Advocacy Day
On October 19, 2021, WBCC advocates met virtually with legislators and staff at the Wisconsin State Capitol.
Background
In 2017, Wisconsin joined many other states in passing legislation that required health care facilities to notify a woman, after her mammogram, if she has dense breast tissue. Dense breast tissue makes tumors harder to see on mammograms, and is also a risk factor in and of itself for developing breast cancer. Appropriate screening for dense tissue enables physicians to catch tumors early, before they become life threatening.
The mandated notification encourages women to follow up with their health care professional to discuss risk and the potential need for further screening. Unfortunately, not all health care plans will cover the cost of these additional essential screenings such as ultrasound or MRI. For that reason WBCC advocates urged legislators to support Wisconsin State Senate Bill 413 and Assembly Bill 416, which will ensure that the 40% of Wisconsin women with dense breast tissue receive the most effective breast cancer screening that is right FOR THEM.
READ MORE HERE
2019 Advocacy Day
On October 9, 2019, advocates met with 33 legislators and staff at the Wisconsin State Capitol.
State Advocacy Day is an opportunity for representatives from the Wisconsin Breast Cancer Coalition to meet with state legislators and their staff to discuss the issues facing breast cancer patients and survivors in Wisconsin, how current policy impacts them, and what we can do to address those issues.
The morning sessions prep attendees to discuss legislation and topics that affect breast cancer patients. After lunch, advocates meet with their state representatives.
