by The coronavirus has rocked all of our worlds in one way or another. There is virtually no one alive now to tell us how they muddled through the 1918 pandemic, and other than the sacrifices Americans made during WWII, most of us have never been asked to forego so much of our “regular” lives in service to the rest of our fellow citizens.
Businesses have suffered tremendously. Health care workers are exhausted and frightened. Non-profits that provide things like food and shelter are stretched thin. And sadly, our elected officials have seemed mostly immobilized since March – at both the state and federal levels.
Cancer, though, didn’t take a vacation while we’ve all been dealing with COVID. People still contracted cancer. People still died of cancer. Many people have put off regular screenings out of fear of going into a health care facility during a pandemic. (Full disclosure, I pushed my mammogram out by 2 months until I realized how foolish it would be for this high-risk woman to delay screening.)
But let’s get back to those elected officials . . .
WBCC has been a conduit to our state and federal representatives for more than 2 decades. It is the only breast cancer organization in WI that focuses on policy issues that affect the entire continuum of breast care. Our policy committee works to advance good policies that will help save lives.
YOU are pretty powerful!
So how do we do that? We start with YOU! You may be at high risk for developing breast cancer. You may be having trouble getting access to care. You may be a cancer patient. But while you may be all these things, you are one other very important thing – a CONSTITUENT. A VOTER.
Your voice and your stories matter more than anything else when we are trying to develop policy to solve a problem.
It matters to us because it matters to the state and federal representatives for whom you vote. We can help plug you in to them! We aren’t lobbyists – we are concerned citizens working together to raise issues with policy makers that will help save lives.
So what are the issues?
I’ll dive into a couple of top priorities in a minute, but the broad strokes are these:
- Primary prevention – particularly environmental links to the development of breast cancer
- Early detection – affordable access to the most effective screenings are the best way to achieve this goal
- Access to quality care – the best treatments should be available to everyone
- Quality research and a seat at the table – programs like the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program require breast cancer survivor participation in reviewing grant requests. That could be YOU!
Specifically, are you dense?
Breast density legislation is a top WBCC priority right now at the state level. Dense breast tissue not only makes tumors harder to see on mammograms, but is a risk factor – in and of itself – for developing breast cancer. (More detail on this HERE).
In 2017, Wisconsin joined many other states in passing legislation that required health care facilities to notify a woman, after her mammogram, if she had dense breast tissue. We are now working on a follow-up bill that would require insurers to cover ALL ESSENTIAL SCREENING MODALITIES, such as ultrasound and/or MRI, which are more effective at finding breast cancer in dense tissue. We’re looking for sponsors right now – so if you fall into this category and are willing to share your story with YOUR state Senator and Assembly Representative, you could help us! This is how the first bill came about in Wisconsin – an advocate, telling her story to her elected officials.
24 months is a long time to wait
On the federal level, WBCC members are supporting the National Breast Cancer Coalition’s (NBCC) efforts to get the Metastatic Breast Cancer Access to Care Act passed. This would waive the 24 month waiting period for Medicare eligibility and the 5 month waiting period for Social Security Disability Insurance benefits for individuals with Metastatic Breast Cancer. Based on the limited life expectancy of individuals with metastatic disease (an average of 3 years), NBCC believes the 24 month waiting period waiver should extend to these individuals. Read more HERE.
IN THE TIME OF COVID . . . (and elections)
It has been very hard to attract the attention of our elected officials this year. Our 2020 Advocacy Day at the State Capitol has been postponed until 2021. The Capitol remains closed to the public for the foreseeable future. NBCC’s Annual Lobby Day in Washington DC was held virtually – which appears to have worked technically but is less than ideal, as anyone who has conducted a meeting over Zoom will attest to.
This leaves us doing a lot of planning right now. We’re gathering up our resources and preparing to start up conversations again after January, when the new WI Legislature and Congress are sworn in. YOU are our greatest resource. We need you to share your stories, or perhaps commit to some informal advocacy training and joining us in Madison next year. We can all let our elected officials know that cancer isn’t taking a break during COVID, so neither can they.
Please consider how you can support our efforts this year. We can always use financial support if you’re in a position to do that, although we know times are tough. So if you can’t do that, can you spare a little time? Can you share your story or talents with our team? We always need volunteers!
For many years, the WBCC motto has been to “stand up and speak out” about breast cancer. COVID has stopped us from doing a lot of things this year, but let’s not let it stop us from doing that. Let us hear from you at admin@wibreastcancer.org.