“We should be mad as hell”: NC legislators who’ve survived breast cancer seek improved detection

When Senate Democratic Leader Sydney Batch (D-Wake) was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 39, she was not thinking about the cost of treatment. She was only thinking about her boys.

“My kids were five and seven. I was just thinking about whether or not I would live long enough to be able to dance with my sons at their weddings,” Batch recalled at a Tuesday press conference.

Batch, a primary sponsor of Senate Bill 553, said the “Save More Tatas Act” would provide health coverage parity for breast cancer diagnostic imaging.

Far too many women in North Carolina don’t get diagnosed with breast cancer early, because they don’t get the proper diagnostic treatment and preventative treatment that would save their lives.

“Most importantly, you sure as heck shouldn’t be in a situation where women are denied access because they can’t afford the actual screenings,” said Sen. Batch.

‘Divine intervention’

Sen. Val Applewhite (D-Cumberland) said when she retired from the United States Air Force after 20 years, she received a screening mammogram as she was processed out of the military. It came back normal.

A year later she credits divine intervention with saving her life.

“My mother, who had passed years earlier, came to me in my dream. She said, ‘Val, go get a mammogram.’ So, I made the appointment. And that’s when I got the diagnosis, I had breast cancer. I was lucky.”

Applewhite was lucky that she was working at the Pentagon. She received her cancer treatment at Bethesda Naval Medical Center, the same place the President of the United States receives medical care.

“That access, plain and simple, is what saved my life. Too many people in North Carolina don’t have that,” said Applewhite.

The Cumberland County Democrat said another portion of SB 553 would allocate $3.5 million to help recruit and retain mammography technologists in rural and underserved areas.

Skipping tests when you can’t afford the co-pay

Rep. Mary Belk (D-Mecklenburg) is yet another member of this extraordinary sorority of breast cancer survivors.

Belk said she had finished a grueling day of campaigning in 2016 when she felt something.

She didn’t want to call it a lump. That was too scary. But she made time for an overdue breast exam.

“I heard the words that no one wants to hear:  You have breast cancer,” said Belk. “I was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer, three months before my first election.”

Approximately 14,700 women in North Carolina will have breast cancer this year. Fourteen hundred will not survive, Belk said.

But with first rate care, her cancer went into remission. She was one of the lucky few who did not worry about the cost of imaging.

“Women who need these medically necessary tests are skipping them because they cannot afford the co-pays,” said Belk.

Breast MRIs in North Carolina can cost anywhere between $260 and over $1,300, depending on one’s health plan.

Belk is the primary sponsor of House Bill 297. The Breast Cancer Prevention Imaging Parity bill would require insurance companies to cover diagnostic, screening as well as supplemental breast exams to the same extent as mammograms.

This coverage is especially important for women with dense breasts who are at risk of being diagnosed at later stages.

Causing a ‘ruckus’ for advanced imaging

Sheila Mikhail falls into that category. The self-described ‘serial, biotech entrepreneur’ created multiple companies in the Research Triangle Park along with thousands of well-paying jobs.

Yet when cancer was found in her left breast, she repeatedly had to push for additional screenings of her right breast.

The oncologist told her she was causing a ‘ruckus’, but the office would do a supplemental test at a cost of $1,200.

The breast MRI found a second tumor that was not detected by an ultrasound or a diagnostic mammogram.

“I was fortunate because I could afford to pay. I found my right tumor just before it metastasized.”

Mikhail wants lawmakers to pass both HB 297 and SB 553 and have insurance companies cover supplemental ultrasounds and MRIs for breast cancer.

A narrow window to gain passage

But the time to pass these bills this session is growing short. May 8th marks the crossover deadline for bills to pass at least one chamber to stay eligible for consideration.

Senate Bill 553 has been stuck in the Rules committee since March.

Belk’s bill (“Breast Cancer Prevention Imaging Parity”) was approved by three House committees, but before a floor vote in mid-April, it was withdrawn from the House calendar and kicked back to the Rules committee. No reason was provided.

Batch said she has had many, many conversations with her Republican colleagues, but faces opposition because some insurance companies don’t want another mandate that requires them to pay for additional coverage.

Sen. Applewhite said this should not be a partisan issue. She’d like female voters to call their representatives.

“You know our breasts are not Democrats or Republicans, but the men in this building that have power, don’t help us — won’t help us save lives. We should be mad as hell.”