Lloyd Bentsen: “if this Congress does anything this year, this might be the bill to pass and get signed into law. This bill underscores…”

“if this Congress does anything this year, this might be the bill to pass and get signed into law. This bill underscores the whole issue of the uninsured in this country. When women are diagnosed with breast cancer or cervical cancer and do not have the means to get the treatment, it is effectively giving them a death sentence. This bill will, at least, start the process of trying to help these women and help them beat this disease, which they can. Now, I want to give my colleagues a story about somebody in my district, a woman named Barbara Mitchell, who was recently diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer at the Rose Center at Pasadena, Texas. The Rose in my district does free examinations. The problem is, once they you examined, if they cannot get treatment, they are pretty much out of luck. Ms. Mitchell is 35 years old and cannot afford the treatment for her breast cancer. She fought her first battle with cancer in 1988. Although uninsured at the time, Ms. Mitchell beat her cervical cancer and she managed to pay for her services. But because of her previous cancer history, she cannot afford to buy prohibitively expensive health insurance. At 32, when she discovered a lump in her breast and was treated for breast cancer through the public health system, because she owns a dance studio, she is considered to have assets and, thus, has to pay $26,000 and probably will have to sell her only business, her only asset.”