I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2540 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to raise awareness of, and to 
educate breast cancer patients anticipating surgery, especially patients 
who are members of racial and ethnic minority groups, regarding the 
availability and coverage of breast reconstruction, prostheses, and other 
options. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 21, 2015 
Mr. LANCE (for himself, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. 
MCKINLEY, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. 
KINZINGER of Illinois, and Mr. BUTTERFIELD) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to raise awareness 
of, and to educate breast cancer patients anticipating 
surgery, especially patients who are members of racial 
and ethnic minority groups, regarding the availability 
and coverage of breast reconstruction, prostheses, and 
other options. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Breast Cancer Patient 
Education Act of 2015’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds as follows: 
(1) The American Cancer Society estimates 
that in 2015, about 231,840 new cases of breast 
cancer will be diagnosed in women in the United 
States. 
(2) Breast cancer has a disproportionate and 
detrimental impact on African-American women and 
is the most common cancer among Hispanic women. 
(3) African-American women under the age of 
40 have a greater incidence of breast cancer than 
Caucasian women of the same age. 
(4) According to the Health Resources and 
Services Administration, women residing in rural 
areas may have lower rates of mammography screen-
ing compared to non-rural women because of bar-
riers to health care, such as greater distances to 
medical facilities and lower educational, income, and 
health insurance levels. 
(5) Individuals undergoing surgery for breast 
cancer should have the opportunity to give due con-
sideration to the option of breast reconstructive sur-
gery, either at the same time as the breast cancer 
surgery or at a later date. 
(6) According to the American Cancer Society, 
immediate breast reconstruction offers the advan-
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tage of combining the breast cancer surgery with the 
reconstructive surgery and is cost effective, while de-
layed breast reconstruction may be advantageous in 
women who require post-surgical radiation or other 
treatments. 
(7) A woman who has had a breast removed 
may not be a candidate for surgical breast recon-
struction or may choose not to undergo additional 
surgery and instead choose breast prostheses. 
(8) The Women’s Health and Cancer Rights 
Act of 1998 (Public Law 105–277) requires health 
plans that offer medical and surgical benefits with 
respect to a mastectomy to also provide coverage for 
all stages of reconstruction of the breast on which 
the mastectomy has been performed, surgery and re-
construction of the other breast to produce a sym-
metrical appearance, prostheses, and physical com-
plications of mastectomy, including lymphedemas. 
(9) A 2007 study by Amy Alderman, M.D., at 
the University of Michigan reported that up to 70 
percent of women eligible for breast reconstruction 
are not informed of their reconstructive options by 
their general surgeon. 
(10) A 2003 study by Alderman and others 
found that race is a significant predictor of recon-
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