When Time Matters Most, Patients Shouldn’t Have to Wait: A Bipartisan Opportunity to Help Metastatic Breast Cancer Patients

Access to affordable, quality health care remains a challenge for too many Americans. For those living with metastatic breast cancer who can no longer work because of their disease, the challenges are even greater.

Time is precious for people living with metastatic breast cancer and their families. Yet under current law, many are forced to wait 24 months for Medicare and five months for SSDI benefits they spent their careers paying into. The outdated waiting periods create unnecessary barriers for people facing a life-threatening illness.

Tragically, the median life expectancy for someone diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer is just three years. Too many patients die before the benefits they earned through a lifetime of work ever become available. In the meantime, they and their families face mounting medical bills, lost income, and overwhelming financial strain at a time when their focus should be on treatment and making the most of their time with loved ones.

That is why we are partnering with the National Breast Cancer Coalition to lead a bipartisan effort to eliminate these outdated waiting periods and ensure patients can access the benefits they have earned when they need them most. The Metastatic Breast Cancer Access to Care Act would provide immediate access to Medicare and SSDI benefits for individuals living with metastatic breast cancer, eliminating barriers that prevent patients from receiving the support they have earned.

The consequences of arbitrary waiting periods are not abstract. They affect families and patients every day.

Our legislation would help those like Missouri resident Tiana Russell. Tiana is a single mother who was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer in 2020. In 2025, while she worked as long as she could, Tiana was forced to leave her job due to her illness. She has been living on savings, but those funds are running dry, and she is struggling to secure financial support for her health care and to provide for herself and her son. Eliminating the waiting period will provide Tina with much-needed income through SSDI and health care through Medicare.

Long Island resident Catherine Marquardt was not as fortunate. Diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer in 2018 and no longer able to work, access to health care coverage through Medicare may have lengthened Catherine’s life, eased her pain, and reduced financial hardship. Instead, Catherine passed away on December 2, 2020, at age 48, just one day after her two-year waiting period was up and she qualified for Medicare.

Tragically, a new law did not come in time to help Catherine and too many others, but we can act now and give those living with metastatic breast cancer a fighting chance.

The Metastatic Breast Cancer Access to Care Act has earned the support of more than 100 health care organizations and a majority of the House of Representatives. The need is clear, the solution is straightforward, and the bipartisan support is already there.

It is time for Congress to finish the job. We urge our colleagues to move this legislation forward and send it to the President’s desk. Every day of delay means more patients are forced to wait for benefits they have earned and desperately need.

For people living with metastatic breast cancer, time is not a luxury. Congress has an opportunity to do the right thing and ensure these patients receive the care and support they deserve when they need it most.

Rep. Andrew Garbarino (NY-02) and Rep. Kathy Castor (FL-14) are the bipartisan lead sponsors of the Metastatic Breast Cancer Access to Care Act, legislation to eliminate Medicare and Social Security Disability waiting periods for individuals living with metastatic breast cancer.