Photo Courtesy of Assemblywoman Pheffer Amato
“Our State is standing up and saying a woman can choose how her body will look after a mastectomy,” Assemblywoman Pheffer Amato said.
By Forum Staff
A groundbreaking bill that would provide coverage and information on chest wall reconstruction surgery after a mastectomy or partial mastectomy, commonly known as “aesthetic flat closure,” has passed the Assembly by unanimous vote, Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato (D-Howard Beach), who introduced the legislation, recently announced.
According to Pheffer Amato, currently, breast reconstruction is covered by insurance and while many women pursue reconstructive surgeries women also choose to “stay flat” and pursue aesthetic flat closure. Women who forgo breast reconstruction are most often done in one surgery, but about one in four will require revision to produce an acceptable aesthetic result (an aesthetic flat closure). Too often, these women are told that their revision surgery is “cosmetic” and therefore will not be covered by insurance. With this new bill, not only would breast reconstruction be covered by insurance, but so would flat closure. This change in the law gives women a choice in how they want their post-mastectomy body to look.
“Roughly one in eight women will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer and the effects are life altering, to say the least. There are too many cases where women have been forced into a decision that they may not have wanted—but no more. Our State is standing up and saying a woman can choose how her body will look after a mastectomy,” the assemblywoman added.
The bill is now in the State Senate where it is being carried by Sen. Toby Ann Stavisky (D-Flushing).
