October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Komen OC has been celebrating!  Providing resources needed to detect and fight breast cancer, the 21^st annual Race for the Cure at Fashion Island raised more than $2 million and counting as fundraising continues through October.  Seventy five percent of funds raised are redirected into the local community with the other twenty five percent going toward cancer research.

This month, Komen Orange County teamed up with Northgate Gonzalez Markets to conduct vital breast health outreach and education to the Latino community. In collaboration with the YWCA and in partnership with Northgate Gonzalez Markets, Komen Orange County provided free mammograms and breast screenings throughout the month to women over the age of 40 with no medical insurance or an insurance that has a high deductible or co-payment, and a low household income at the Northgate Markets in La Habra and Santa Ana.

Komen OC’s Breast Health Education Series also continued through October, providing men and women with free seminars, open to the public, regarding breast cancer and breast health education. Participants will learn about topics including prevention, screening, diagnostics, treatment and survivorship.

The next seminar is tonight from 6:30 – 8 p.m. at the Women’s Wellness Center in Mission Viejo. The topic “Managing Fear of Reoccurrence and Emotional Coping” will be presented by a panel of experts from Mission Hospital. For more information, visit www.komenoc.org. To RSVP, please contact: 949-364-4284 or mary.bonelli@stjoe.org

Do you part in spreading Breast Cancer Awareness this month! There are still 10 days left to fundraise and help Komen Orange County meet their goal of $3 million. Visit www.komenoc.org/race to make a general donation and participate in Komen OC’s mission of “Serving women, saving lives”.

Komen Advocacy Alliance Update and Opportunity Drawing Winners

Congratulations to Barbara Maxwell, Trudi Burchieri and Debbie Shoemann, our drawing winners who made a donation to the Komen OC Race for the Cure, and signed the letter to the governor in an effort to passing several pieces of legislation.  They each won a $100 gift card to the Yardhouse and a Bailey Christopher MobileEdge bag.

We would like to thank everyone who participated and either signed the letter, responded to the eblast or tweeted to the governor. We raised $1,630 and collected over 1,600 signatures at the Registration Suite and Race for the Cure. The Komen Advocacy Alliance (KAA) has been working hard to get these bills passed and wouldn’t be able to do it without your help. 

The following bills were signed into law by the governor:

• AB 137 (Portantino) – Requires health plans to provide coverage for mammograms upon provider referral and notify policyholders of recommended timelines for testing. 
• SB 255 (Pavley) – Revises the health care coverage definition of mastectomy procedures to include lumpectomy, and also allows the length of a hospital stay associated with mastectomy procedures to be determined post-surgery. 
• SB 1359: (Simitian) – Extends the Breast Cancer Check off on tax returns until 2018.
• SB 1538 (Simitian) – Requires that women be notified of their breast density in their mammogram results and recommends they talk to their doctor about their options. 

Unfortunately, the governor vetoed AB 1000(Perea) which would have required health plans that provide coverage for cancer chemotherapy treatment to establish limits on enrollee out-of-pocket costs for oral, nongeneric cancer medication. 

Thanks again to everyone who participated. Remember there is still time fundraising through October 31 to help us reach our goal of $3 million. http://www.komenoc.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?supId=0&ievent=1016557