Tag: Custom Breast Prostheses
Women’s health boutique manager charged with fraud
July 24, 2024HME News Staff
CHICAGO — The office manager for a suburban Chicago medical equipment boutique has been indicted on federal health care fraud charges for allegedly billing private insurers for products that were never provided, including breast prostheses, compression garments and wigs for cancer survivors. Judy Strzelecki, who worked at A Woman’s Place in Downer’s Grove, Ill., is accused of submitting fraudulent claims from 2015 to 2020 to Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois and other health...
Because it only affects women
November 21, 2023Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor
An Amy Schumer standup special I watched recently on Netflix had me thinking about the latest iteration of legislation that seeks to require Medicare to pay for custom breast forms.
Schumer was talking about a common women’s health condition she was seeking treatment for.
“Oh, we haven’t studied that yet,” she deadpans, “because it only affects women.”
Cue Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., who introduced the Breast Cancer Patient...
Senators re-introduce custom breast forms legislation
October 25, 2023HME News Staff
WASHINGTON – Sens. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, have re-introduced The Breast Cancer Patient Equity Act, a bill that would provide Medicare coverage for custom fabricated breast prostheses.
The bill is a companion bill to H.R. 4779, introduced in July by Reps. Judy Chu, D-Calif., and Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa.
“We can do so much more to help patients and survivors of breast cancer fully recover and achieve the best quality of life,”...
Bill to cover custom breast forms reintroduced in House
July 27, 2023HME News Staff
WASHINGTON — Reps. Judy Chu, D-Calif., and Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, have reintroduced the bipartisan Breast Cancer Patient Equity Act, which would provide Medicare coverage of custom breast prostheses to breast cancer survivors.
The bill, H.R. 4779, would allow hundreds of thousands of women each year to choose a custom prosthesis after a mastectomy.
“This is a great step forward in our efforts to expand access to life-changing health care for breast cancer...
The sisterhood of Mary Walsh Aframe
June 10, 2022Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor
WORCESTER, Mass. – It’s been 12 years since Mary Walsh Aframe first lugged a suitcase full of women’s health products to the office of Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., to shine a spotlight on the lack of Medicare reimbursement for such items, which are often deemed “medically unnecessary.”
Walsh Aframe, who was recently named the 2022 Essentially Women Ruth Addison Award Winner at this year’s Focus Conference, hasn’t let up since, and plans to meet with McGovern...
Women’s health: Stakeholders push to increase access
October 8, 2021Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor
WASHINGTON – Supporters of women’s health legislation to increase access to custom breast prostheses and compression garments hope to gain needed momentum this fall to get their bills passed before the end of the year, they say.
The Breast Cancer Patient Equity Act of 2021 would provide coverage for custom fabricated breast prostheses. The House bill, H.R. 3087, sponsored by Judy Chu, D-Calif, has 15 co-sponsors; the Senate companion bill, S. 2051, co-sponsored by Sens. Tammy...
Senators re-introduce bill to improve access to custom breast prosthetics
June 21, 2021HME News Staff
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, on June 15 re-introduced legislation to ensure that breast cancer patients and survivors who have had a mastectomy are able to access custom breast prosthetics under Medicare.
The Breast Cancer Patient Equity Act of 2021 would provide coverage for custom fabricated breast prostheses – which, unlike other prosthetic devices, aren’t covered by Medicare – to more than 100,000 women who undergo...
Custom breast forms legislation drops
October 4, 2018HME News Staff
WASHINGTON - A bipartisan bill that would require Medicare to cover custom breast prostheses was introduced in the House of Representatives yesterday.The Breast Cancer Patient Equity Act, H.R. 6980, is co-sponsored by Rep. Rob Blum, R-Iowa, and Judy Chu, D-Calif.“I am proud to introduce this bipartisan bill with my colleague, Democrat Rep. Chu, to provide women with coverage of more options following a mastectomy,” said Blum in a press release. “As breast cancer rates continue to...