This bipartisan bill supports the development and operation of research centers to study environmental factors that may be related to the etiology of breast cancer. Ensures that qualified trained technicians are reading and performing mammographies. Ensures that insurance companies cover the cost of reconstructive surgery after a mastectomy. Caring for our Caregivers Women have historically been the primary health care providers and health decision-makers for their families. Two-thirds of all women are alone responsible for health care decisions within their family and 83 percent have sole or shared responsibility for financial decisions regarding their family's health.
Women are also the primary care givers for ill or disabled family members.
Of the estimated 15 percent of Americans who are informal care givers, an estimated 72 percent are women many of them sandwiched between caring for an ailing relative and caring for their own children. I supported the reauthorization of the Older Americans Act , which was signed into law by President Clinton on November 14, 2000. The National Family Caregiver Support Program will offer counseling and training, respite care, and information and referral services to persons caring for those living with a debilitating disease that requires constant care and assistance. This would ease the burden of almost 2 million American families that care for aging or ailing loved ones at home. I recently joined House members and human rights and women's advocacy organizations to condemn the practices of honor killings and dowry deaths and to announce a joint strategy to curb the practices.