Carlotta Mohamed is reporting for QNS [dot] com legislation put forward by state Senator Toby Ann Stavisky and Assemblymember Stacey Pheffer Amato providing women with more options post-mastectomy was signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul on October 14. The measure amends the insurance law to give women the choice between reconstructive surgery or to go with a flat chest, allowing them the ability to choose how they want their post-mastectomy body to look. The bills passed in both houses of the state Legislature with unanimous bipartisan support. The new law makes New York the first state in the country to provide this type of insurance coverage, allowing flat closure procedures to be covered by insurance just like reconstructive surgery. Previously, the law had only required insurance to cover breast reconstruction but not chest wall reconstruction, which was classified to be cosmetic by many insurers. “Breast cancer survivors deserve to be treated with dignity and respect by our health care system,” Hochul said. Roughly one in eight women in the U.S. will be diagnosed with breast cancer during their lifetimes. “In New York, we do not just want women with breast cancer to survive, we want them to thrive,” Amato said. Read more at QNS [dot] com.