Politicizing Breast Cancer or Politicizing the Health Care Bill?

On, "This Week" with Host George Stephanopoulos.....

The Republicans, and Ms. Marsha Blackburn, (7th District Tennessee) have for the first time politicized breast cancer," Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.)said on ABC's "This Week," where Blackburn (R-Tenn.) was also a guest.

Schultz, a breast cancer survivor, slammed Republicans for trying to use controversial new mammogram guidelines as an argument against Democrats' health care legislation.

"That is incorrect," shot back Blackburn, who had just finished arguing that the Democrats' bill would make the recommendations of the same task force mandatory and thus end up rationing care.

"The guidelines that came out this week by the Preventive Services Task Force have a direct link to what would be offered if the House and the Senate bills were to go into law, if they were to be put into law," said Blackburn, referring to the recent recommendation that women between the ages of 40 and 50 no longer need annual mammograms.

Wasserman Shultz insisted that the task force recommendations were just that, not rules to ration care: "As a breast cancer survivor, I came out against these recommendations. Every major cancer organization has come out against these recommendations. The task force language in that [health care reform] bill actually makes sure that preventive services like mammograms and colonoscopies and other cancer screenings would be free," she said. "They aren't going to be binding. They're recommendations."

If the healthcare bill passes the guidelines become the law. The task force rate guidelines as an A, B, C (so forth) rating and the new guidelines for Mammograms and Pap smears have been rated as a C rating. Therefore, even though they would have been covered at no cost under preventative care in the new health care plan. Their new rating would mean that they would not be covered at all. That is right no coverage for basic cancer care screening.

Blackburn read the language straight from the bill and the the response of Schultz was that the Republicans are twisting the language and meaning of the bill. The discussion became even more heated. Stephanopoulos read himself from the bill and agreed with Blackburn that the language was there, that only A and B recommendations would be covered. Proving Rep. Blackburn's claims.

Rep. Ben Nelson (D-Nebraska) did say that he would not vote this bill off the Senate floor the way the bill currently stands. He wants stronger language prohibiting federal funds for abortion. And he wants more cost control.