U.S. panel mulls minimum breast cancer hospital stay

By Kim Dixon

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A congressional panel on Wednesday said it has bipartisan support for a bill requiring health insurers to pay for a minimum 48-hour hospital stay after breast cancer treatment, to combat what critics call "drive-through" surgeries.

About 20 U.S. states have such a minimum insurance requirement for women undergoing mastectomies or lumpectomies to treat breast cancer. Advocates of the bill say federal legislation is needed to equalize coverage across the nation.

"Having access to appropriate medical care should not be dependent on the state you live in," said Rep. Frank Pallone, the New Jersey Democrat who chairs the health subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee.

Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer among women after skin cancer, killing more than 41,000 women a year in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The bill has bipartisan support and 219 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives. A companion bill in the Senate has 19 co-sponsors thus far.

Women with breast cancer often undergo a mastectomy, in which the full breast is removed, or a lumpectomy, a less drastic surgery that is followed by radiation therapy.

About two-thirds of the 125,000 women who undergo mastectomies in the U.S. annually leave the hospital a few hours after surgery, without regard to their health, because their insurance will not pay for a longer stay, according to testimony from Dr. Kristen Zarfos, a fellow at the American College of Surgeons.

But America's Health Insurance Plans, an industry group for most major health plans such as UnitedHealth Group and WellPoint Inc, called the bill unnecessary.