Wisconsin Breast Cancer Coalition

It is our advocacy activities surrounding legislation and public policy that distinguish us from other breast cancer organizations in the state. We work to inform and instruct our congressional representatives on breast cancer issues and engage in active lobbying for breast cancer-related legislation. We lobby at the state level as well as in Washington, DC.

Being a member of WBCC means your voice is heard in Wisconsin and across the country. It means you have opportunities to learn more about the disease than you’ll find on a shower card. It means you can have an impact on access to a new treatment or diagnostic tool that may save the life of someone you care about, maybe yourself. It means you have a voice to influence how policy is affecting efforts to eradicate breast cancer.

Plain and simple, it will take more than just money for research and awareness to eliminate the far-reaching effects of breast cancer on our society; it also takes a collective voice to advocate for positive change.

We are the voice of people concerned about breast cancer in Wisconsin. No other breast cancer group in Wisconsin is as active in promoting education beyond the media sound bytes about breast cancer; collaborating with other organizations from other breast cancer groups, to those who may not even be health-based, but have complementary goals; and ensuring that legislators and other policy makers hear from the patient’s perspective and have a resource they can go to for information on any breast cancer issue prior to making a decision. We do not duplicate the efforts of other organizations that provide valuable services directly to breast cancer patients and their families; the WBCC supports them by attacking the disease from a different angle.

In the past, we have worked with organizations such as Citizens for a Better Environment and other area advocacy groups to support legislation in Wisconsin that relates to breast health. We continue to track state legislation and any budget cuts that would threaten screening and treatment programs.

The following are accomplishments in the area of ADVOCACY AND LEGISLATION:

• Through collaborative advocacy efforts between WBCC and the National Breast Cancer Coalition (NBCC), funding from the National Institutes of Health's Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program (DoD BRCP) has resulted in nearly $2 billion in peer reviewed breast cancer research since 1991. Since these funds must be appropriated by Congress each year, WBCC both as an organization, and through our grassroots advocacy network, annually asks our Wisconsin Senators and House Representatives to sign on to the legislation. The 2007 appropriation was for $127.5 million, which was level funding from 2006.
• WBCC continues to grow our Legislative Alert Network – our “grassroots” program to rally the voices of the people of Wisconsin to be heard by state legislators. Anyone can become a member of our Alert Network, which works by sending the alerts via mail or email when an important vote is coming up. We provide the information participants need and a specific message to convey. The process is very simple and extremely effective.
• In October 2000, the Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention and Treatment Act was signed into law. The law provides an investment of over $990 million over ten years to guarantee screening and treatment for low income and uninsured women. WBCC worked in collaboration with NBCC for four years to achieve this major accomplishment. WBCC then worked hard to ensure that Wisconsin opted into the program, bringing Medicaid provisions and monies for treatment here.
• In 2006, the WBCC, working collaboratively with other groups, helped establish the Wisconsin Cancer Patient Protection Act, requiring health care plans to cover routine care costs for patients enrolled in clinical trials.
• In March 2004, WBCC and its members encouraged state legislators to sign onto “Nick’s Law” which would create a voluntary drug repository for un-used medication after someone has passed away from cancer. The bill was passed at the end of the session.
• In 2003, WBCC was invited to provide testimony to the State of Wisconsin Committee on Insurance in support of Assembly Bill 364 – Off Label Drug Legislation, which requires coverage of “off-label” drugs by private insurance companies. WBCC believes that this will ensure that all people will have access to the full array of treatments available, increasing odds for survival and reducing the impact of the disease – emotional and economic – on themselves and their families.
• Beginning in 2002, WBCC worked to see passage of legislation to establish an income tax check off box, creating a Wisconsin Breast Cancer Research Fund. In 2003, we testified on behalf of this Assembly Bill 351 before the State Legislative Committee on Public Health, and in February 2004, provided written testimony to the Joint Committee on Finance to ensure advancement of the bill. This fund has raised nearly $600,000 in its initial 2 years. We will follow research being done with the funds, which are shared equally by the Medical College of Wisconsin and the Paul P Carbone Comprehensive Cancer Center.
• WBCC Sherry Kohlenberg Scholarship Fund, established in 2000 has allowed nearly 20 Wisconsin breast cancer survivors and advocates to attend the National Breast Cancer Coalition Annual Meeting, Training, and Lobby Day in Washington, D.C. These advocates then return to Wisconsin to use what they have learned and experienced to advocate for breast cancer issues at the state and federal levels.

WBCC Alert Network Mail List