Snowe introduces seven bills on women’s health care

WASHINGTON – Sen. Olympia Snowe, a strong advocate of women’s health issues, introduced seven bills this week to protect women’s rights and provide additional health benefits for women, such as better cervical cancer screening for Medicare recipients.

In an attempt to improve the lives of women workers and older women, Snowe called for protection against discrimination in the workplace, increased access to clinical trials and expanding Medicare coverage for annual cancer and osteoporosis screenings.

“My mother died of breast cancer when I was 8 years old,” she said. “I have always felt a special responsibility to work on women’s health issues. The legislation I have introduced today represents some of the areas where we can do better.”

Snowe long has been known as a strong advocate of women’s health issues. She co-chaired the Congressional Caucus on Women’s Issues for 10 years while serving in the House of Representatives and led the effort to establish the Office of Women’s Health at the National Institutes of Health, which addresses gender equality in research and medical professions.

Snowe introduced the Women’s Health and Cancer Rights Act, which would guarantee patients diagnosed with cancer the right to get a second opinion. The bill also would allow the woman and her physician to determine the length of a hospital stay after a mastectomy.

“A woman diagnosed with breast cancer in many ways already feels as though she has lost control of her life,” Snowe said. “She should not feel as though she has also lost control of her treatment.”

The bill is co-sponsored by Sens. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Tim Johnson, D-S.D.

Snowe also reintroduced the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, a bill that would protect women from workplace discrimination if they breast-feed during their lunch breaks by including the words “breast-feeding” in the protections specifically named in the act. “Some women have been fired for expressing breast milk” or harassed by co-workers, and courts across the country have yet to address this issue, she said.

She also reintroduced legislation to expand Medicare coverage to include annual cervical cancer tests. If approved, Medicare patients would not have to pay for annual Pap smears and pelvic examinations.

“The American Cancer Society recommends annual examinations for women beginning at age 18, but Medicare only covers a screening every three years for women who do not meet certain ‘high risk’ criteria,” Snowe said.

Another bill Snowe introduced would increase the say of consumers on breast cancer research funding at the National Institutes of Health by allowing breast cancer advocates to get involved in the research decision-making process.

“Breast cancer advocates help ensure that research reflects the experience of the individuals who have lived with the disease, in addition to the scientific community,” Snowe said.

Snowe also called for improved patient access to experimental medication in proposed legislation that would provide access to clinical trials for patients and prevent insurance companies from denying coverage for those experimental treatments.

“We need to investigate every possibility imaginable in order to meet the needs of patients with life-threatening illnesses,” she said.

Although she mostly addressed women’s issues, Snowe did not ignore men. Together with Sen. Robert Torricelli, D-N.J., she introduced the Medicare Osteoporosis Measurement Act, which would expand coverage of osteoporosis screening for bone mass measurements to include men.

“There is no substitute for early detection,” Snowe said, “and we must provide American men and women the opportunity to have these crucial tests that can prevent them from developing osteoporosis.”

Another piece of legislation proposed by Snowe would standardize coverage under the Federal Employee Health Benefit Program for bone-mass measurements screening. “Instead of a comprehensive national coverage policy, FEHBP leaves it to each of the nearly 500 participating plans to decide who is eligible,” Snowe said. “We owe the people who serve our government more than that.”

Osteoporosis is highly preventable, Snowe said, “but only if it is discovered in time.”

Snowe is the second woman senator to represent Maine, following Margaret Chase Smith, who served from 1949 until 1973. Susan Collins later became the third woman senator from Maine.

“The truth is, for years women across the nation asked their mostly male members of Congress to act on issues critical to them and their lives,” Snowe said. “And the reality was, that for many years, women’s concerns on these issues were not met.”

“We decided to introduce the bills in bulk to increase the focus on the introductions,” said Dave Lackey, spokesman for Snowe.

Snowe also drafted and reintroduced this year her Equity in Prescription Insurance and Contraceptive Coverage Act, which would provide insurance coverage of prescription contraceptives.