More Information on the Find It Early Webinar
Key Details
July 14 2023 via Zoom
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM EST
Sponsored By:
Webinar Speakers
Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D – CT)
Keynote Speaker
DeLauro introduced the Find It Early Act earlier this year. This is federal legislation that, if passed into law, would ensure all health insurance plans cover screening and diagnostic mammograms and breast ultrasounds and MRIs at no cost to the health care consumer. She’ll be speaking more about the bill and what we can do as citizens to see it passed.
JoAnn Pushkin, Executive Director of DenseBreast-info.org
Panelist
Pushkin has written dozens of educational courses, articles, grants, and speeches on the topic of breast density and its relationship to breast cancer risk. She learned of her own breast density’s masking effect on her mammogram after finding a palpable lump that went undetected by mammography several years in a row. Ms. Pushkin’s advocacy has helped see many state and federal laws passed that have increased access to high-quality breast cancer screening services, such as NYS’s Breast Density Inform bill and the FDA’s Mammography Quality Standards Act. She will be speaking about breast cancer risk, costs, patient and provider advocacy, and barriers to high-quality breast cancer screening and care.
Denise Hyater-Lindenmuth, Executive Director of The National Women’s Health Network
Panelist
Hyater-Lindenmuth is a public health expert and the former Executive Director for the American Cancer Society. She received a crash course in this issue when she was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer by chance in 2011. Although she’d been dutifully getting mammograms for years, it was self-detection that brought her into the exam room after an unrelated Achilles tendon injury caused her to contort in a resting position that helped her feel a hard-to-find lump. She will be speaking about her lived experience as a breast cancer survivor, the risks and access barriers to preventative cancer care specific to BIPOC people, and the importance of diversity in clinical cancer trials.
What We’ll Cover (And Why This Information Will Save Lives)
According to the CDC, about 264,000 cases of breast cancer are diagnosed in women each year in the United States. When detected early, breast cancer can have a five-year survival rate of 99%, but when detected at a late stage and after it has spread to other parts of the body, five-year survival is under 30%.
And yet, despite the great outlook if detected early, breast cancer is being diagnosed late and killing thousands of people who could have survived.
During the Find It Early Webinar, nationally esteemed health experts will be discussing:
- Who is at higher risk of breast cancer, and why
- Why late diagnosis of breast cancer keeps happening despite advances in the science
- New screening recommendations based on age, breast density, and other risk factors
- How patients and providers can stay on top of self-exams, screening schedules, and other precautionary measures
- An exciting bill working its way through Congress that, if passed into law, will increase access to breast cancer screening care at NO out-of-pocket cost to high-risk patients
Further Resources
- DenseBreast-Info’s Patient Fact Sheet (available in 30+ languages HERE).
- DenseBreast-Info’s Patient Video Series, Let’s Talk About Dense Breasts
- The NWHN’s fact sheet on breast cancer.
- The NWHN’s Op-Ed by NWHN Executive Director: As a Breast Cancer Survivor, I’ve Seen Firsthand How Early Detection and Clinical Trial Initiatives Save Lives
- For details about the Find it Early Act and how to reach out to your congressperson, visit FindItEarlyAct.org
