First let me apologize to the non-USA mates at the LFS Forums for subjecting them to a US issue. I feel that it is important enough to post so that all may be enlightened about this issue, in case it occurs elsewhere, and so the USA mates can make an informed decision about this issue.

The following letter was posted this morning over at rennlist.com, which I frequent. Please take a moment to read this and sign the petition, if so inclined, and pass it on.

Quote :

Mastectomy Hospitol Bill in Congress

If you know anyone who has had a mastectomy, you may know that there is a lot of discomfort and pain afterwards. Insurance companies are trying to make mastectomies an outpatient procedure. Let's give women the chance to recover properly in the hospital for 2 days after surgery.

It takes 2 seconds to do this and is very important...please take the time and do it!

Breast Cancer Hospitalization Bill - Important legislation for all women.

Please send this to everyone in your address book.. If there was ever a time when our voices and choices should be heard, this is one of those times.

If you're receiving this, it's because I think you will take the 30 seconds to vote on this issue and send it on to others you know who will do the same.

There's a bill called the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act which will require insurance companies to cover a minimum 48-hour hospital stay for patients undergoing a mastectomy. It's about eliminating the "drive-through mastectomy" where women are forced to go home just a few hours after surgery, still groggy from anesthesia and sometimes with drainage tubes still attached.

Lifetime Television has put this bill on their web page with a petition drive to show your support. Last year over half the House signed on.

PLEASE!! Sign the petition by clicking on the web site below. You need not give more than your name and zip code.

http://www.lifetimetv.com/heal ... st_mastectomy_pledge.html

This takes about 2 seconds. PLEASE PASS THIS ON to your friends and family; and on behalf of all women, THANKS.

My own mother is a 25 year breast cancer survivor, from the days when radical mastectomies were the norm. Even though treatment has progressed considerably, the trauma, both physical and mental, should be reason enough to stop the Medical Insurance Lobby from turning this into a "cost before care" issue.

Thanks for reading

Ed/NQ

No more laws. Put pressure on the insurance companies. Put presure on the politicians (like kicking them out of office) for putting PAC (political action committees) before their constituents. We don't need more laws.

Im with you. My wife participates in the Avon Walk for breast cancer.

I even made an FZR skin! Use it if you would like, right now though it is not uploaded to LFSW, so you would have to upload it to you account.

Although I am not a 'USA' mate I can sympathise, as our own Health Service is rapidly deteriorating to a new low.
We have just heard today that HIV sufferers are likely to be REFUSED TREATMENT (in the form of the latest drugs) because of the cost involved.
For years we have had to put up with what we call 'The Postcode Lottery', which basically means that depending where you live means what level of care you can expect.
There have been numerous court cases in the UK where women have had to FIGHT for the right to treatment for breast cancer (Herceptin)

As a husband, and a father of two daughters, I can only pray that this (UK) government get their fingers out and sort out our NHS before it is too late.

Canada seems ever more appealing compared to the UK I think they still have private health insurance like the USA but even the basic one is above NHS level? Correct me if I'm wrong.

Why should you pay for my illness? The insurance industry in the U.S. must be overhauled (and its executives keelhauled), but we do not need socialized medicine.

For those of you in countries with such a system; ever wondered why the wealthy go to private doctors?

Quote from animal1313 :

Why should you pay for my illness? The insurance industry in the U.S. must be overhauled (and its executives keelhauled), but we do not need socialized medicine.

Exactly. Because of socialized medicine, our neighbors in Canada come here to have operations or treatment. Non socialized medicine also means having the best doctors, since let us be honest, money is what drives people to do better...especially in the American culture. I cannot speak for others, as I am not familiar.

And what about people that can't pay one of these good doctors?
Health care should not be dependent on your purse. :iagree:

As brilliant as private healthcare apparently is, and I plan to take out private health insurance in 4 or so years after university, it's always reassuring to know that socialized healthcare is there to fall back on if you can't afford private healthcare.