HJ5117: Commending the Patient Advocate Foundation on the occasion of its 10th anniversary.

WHEREAS, founded in 1996, the Patient Advocate Foundation is a national nonprofit organization that serves as an active liaison between patients and their insurers and other entities in order to resolve matters of  insurance, job discrimination, and debt crisis relative to their diagnosis through case managers and attorneys; and

WHEREAS, the Patient Advocate Foundation is committed to safeguarding patients rights through effective mediation, assuring access to medical care, maintenance of employment, and preservation of financial stability; and

WHEREAS, Nancy Davenport-Ennis, founder of the Patient Advocate Foundation, became involved in legislative reform on behalf of cancer patients when her dear friend was battling breast cancer and at the same time battling her insurance company; and

WHEREAS, during the 1994 Session of the General Assembly, Nancy Davenport-Ennis and the Virginia Task Force for Insurance Reform were a driving force behind the passage of House Bill 240 that mandates insurance coverage for certain breast cancer treatments; and

WHEREAS, during the 1997 Session of the General Assembly, Nancy Davenport-Ennis, once again, was instrumental in the passage of House Bill 2020 that requires health care insurers to provide coverage for at least a 48-hour hospital stay following a mastectomy; and

WHEREAS, the Patient Advocate Foundation provides a multitude of support services and is an effective advocacy program for all cancer patients in the Commonwealth and throughout the United States in their fight for equitable treatment and adequate and proper care; and

WHEREAS, the Patient Advocate Foundation has made a difference in the delivery of health care in Virginia and has touched the lives of countless cancer patients, their families, and loved ones; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly commend and congratulate the Patient Advocate Foundation on the occasion of its 10th anniversary; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the Patient Advocate Foundation as an expression of the General Assembly's appreciation for the organization's commitment to citizens in need in the Commonwealth.