U.S. health plans must cover breast reconstruction

[10/25/98; Reuters News Service]

A provision requiring health insurance plans to cover reconstructive surgery for breast cancer patients was included in the sprawling spending bill passed by Congress and signed by President Bill Clinton on Wednesday.

The bill requires any plan that covers mastectomies also to cover reconstructive surgery after the cancerous breast is removed.

"The bottom line is reconstructive surgery is not cosmetic -- it's a necessary part of the continuum of care for breast-cancer treatment, " said Rep. Sherrod Brown, an Ohio Democrat who backed the measure.

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