Breast Cancer Awareness Month

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. As we pray for a cure and for those impacted by this horrible sickness, I also encourage women to schedule their screenings for their best chance to beat it.

Detecting cancer early greatly increases the chances of recovery and survival, often requiring less aggressive treatments and resulting in better and more affordable outcomes. That is why I am a proud cosponsor of the Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Detection Screening Coverage Act, which requires Medicare to cover FDA-approved multi-cancer early detection tests. These types of tests are designed to detect multiple types of cancer, including pancreatic, prostate, kidney, lung, breast, skin, ovarian, and liver cancer, through a single, non-invasive blood test. 

Wabasso Partnerships are Saving Patients Before They Even Reach the Hospital

In rural areas, travel time to a hospital can mean the difference between life or death. I got to visit Wabasso where the Avel eCare is partnering with Southwest Minnesota EMS and Wabasso Ambulance to provide tele-EMS services to these areas.

This partnership allows ambulance services to have direct access to care from certified physicians, paramedics, and nurses via a video call right in the ambulance. I am passionate about strengthening our rural communities, and these advances in the medical industry are absolutely critical to that mission. Thank you to the teams for the live demonstration of this new equipment. I was grateful for the opportunity to see how it works and learn more about the technology firsthand.

Talking Healthcare in Rural Minnesota

A major concern I hear about across the Seventh District is the workforce shortage and, more urgently, this administration's non-solution to the problem. The Biden-Harris administration has proposed a mandatory nursing staff ratio for nursing homes, despite their own reporting that there is no level of staffing that can guarantee quality care. If implemented, this mandate would force nursing homes across rural Minnesota to further limit care or even close their doors altogether, which would mean patients could have to move hundreds of miles away from the care they have been receiving and the homes they know and love.

I have been fighting back against this mandate since the beginning, sending letters to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), introduced legislation requiring HHS to halt implementation until they can prove rural homes will not be impacted, and speaking directly to HHS Secretary Becerra in the Ways and Means Committee. I have also encouraged the department to work with communities to find solutions that bolster the recruitment and retention of qualified nursing staff.

I want to thank those that joined me for a roundtable in Marshall at Avera Health and the staff at Glenfields Living with Care in Glencoe for taking the time out of your busy days to talk with me.

Medicare Part D Open Enrollment Begins October 15

Once a year, between October 15 and December 7, seniors can change their prescription drug plan or Medicare Advantage coverage. You can enroll or update by either calling 1-800-MEDICARE or visiting medicare.gov. 

Thank you for reading!

As always, my office is open and ready to serve constituents of Minnesota's Seventh Congressional District! Please do not hesitate to get in touch if there is anything I can do to help. Have a great week and a happy Columbus Day holiday!

 

 

Sincerely,

 

 

Michelle Fischbach

Member of  Congress

 

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