S. 688: Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act of 2009

111th Congress · introduced 2009-03-24 · Health · Latest: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

Where it came from: introduced 2009-03-24 · official record
Who proposed it: Sen. Snowe, Olympia J. [R-ME] · what a sponsor is
What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
Where it stands now: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act of 2009

Plain summary

Breast Cancer Patient Protect Act of 2009 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), the Public Health Service Act, and the Internal Revenue Code to require a group health plan that provides medical and surgical benefits to ensure that inpatient (and in the case of a lumpectomy, outpatient) coverage and radiation therapy are provided for breast cancer treatment. Prohibits such a plan from: (1) restricting benefits for any hospital length of stay to less than 48 hours in connection with a mastectomy or breast conserving surgery or 24 hours in connection with a lymph node dissection, insofar as the attending physician, in consultation with the patient, determines such stay to be medically necessary; or (2) requiring that a provider obtain authorization from the plan or issuer for prescribing any such length of stay. Requires such a plan or issuer to: (1) provide notice to each participant and beneficiary regarding the coverage required under this Act; and (2) ensure that coverage is provided for secondary consultations. Prohibits a group health plan from taking specified actions to avoid the requirements of this Act. Applies such requirements to health insurance issuers offering coverage in the individual market. Allows a health insurance issuer that provides individual health insurance coverage to nonrenew or discontinue an individual's coverage based on the intentional concealment of material facts regarding a health condition related to the condition for which coverage is being claimed.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

A “Yea” vote

If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.

A “Nay” vote

If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.

PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).

What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act of 2009

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)

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Alternatives

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Sen. Snowe, Olympia J. [R-ME] · 19 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Charles E. Schumer (D-NY), Richard J. Durbin (D-IL), Patty Murray (D-WA), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Bernard Sanders (I-VT), Kirsten E. Gillibrand (D-NY)

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (2)

Authorization: A law that creates or continues a government program and says what it may do, often with a suggested spending ceiling. An authorization alone does not provide money; a separate appropriation does.
Securities: Financial investments that can be bought and sold, such as stocks and bonds.

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)
Congress.gov
Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-111s688.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/111/s>

Record fed-us-cong111-s688 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong111 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong111