By Jasmyn Belcher
Oswego, NY – More than 800 Central New York women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year. Nearly one in every five women who are diagnosed with breast cancer, die.
That's something US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is trying to change. She's announcing several initiatives that she says continue the battle against breast cancer. Her efforts are aimed at improving awareness, prevention, requiring insurance companies to cover extended hospital stays and funding more research.
Gillibrand is also working to close racial disparities when it comes to access to treatment.
"African American women are nearly twice as likely to be diagnosed with an advanced stage of breast cancer than white women, but are 10 percent less likely to receive underarm lymph node screening following breast cancer diagnoses which is a crucial step to prevent the spread of cancer to other parts of the body. Studies also show that health insurance status, race, income and educational background are all directly linked to the disparities in these vital screening tests," said Gillibrand.
Gillibrand is working to require new standards for treatment. She says service providers would have to report their practices and providers who don't offer access to all patients would receive reduced Medicare payments.