Advocacy Milestones

Breaking! Federal Legislation Introduced to Include Coverage for AFC!

By Not Putting on a Shirt / November 7, 2025

Everywhere the bill mandates insurance coverage for breast reconstruction, it also mandates coverage for chest wall reconstruction. Additionally, the bill specifies that chest wall reconstruction includes flat closure.

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Legal Milestone in the Fight Against Flat Denial

Legal Milestone in the Fight Against Flat Denial

By Not Putting on a Shirt / May 30, 2025

In a first-ever legal victory for the flat advocacy movement, a woman in California has successfully held her surgeon accountable after she experienced what is known as flat denial—being left with excess skin after a mastectomy despite having clearly chosen to go flat.

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Society of Surgical Oncology Says Surgeons Should Offer AFC

By Not Putting on a Shirt / January 31, 2025

“Discussion of all options, including flat closure, is vital to guide shared decision making and empower patient choice regarding BRRM [Bilateral Risk-Reducing Mastectomy] … Surgeons should elicit the patient’s preference for reconstruction and offer the option of aesthetic fat closure.”

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US Government Says AFC Covered Under WHCRA

By Not Putting on a Shirt / November 11, 2024

The US government now says that AFC is a type of breast reconstruction and as such must be covered by insurance alongside conventional breast reconstruction!

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Indiana AFC Bill Becomes Law

By Not Putting on a Shirt / August 17, 2024

Indiana governor signs AFC bill into law!

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Webinar on AFC – May 3rd

By Not Putting on a Shirt / April 13, 2023

UPDATE! The recorded webinar is now available on YouTube here. On May 3rd, 2023 from 12-1 PM ET, join the Program for […]

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FLAT New Year’s Milestones

By Not Putting on a Shirt / January 10, 2023

We are thrilled to report TWO New Year’s FLAT milestones at NPOAS! Today, Fierce, FLAT, Forward reached 10,000 members! This […]

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NY Governor Signs AFC Bill Into Law

By Not Putting on a Shirt / October 22, 2022

Breaking! NY Governor Kathy Hochul has just signed historic AFC legislation! AFC services are now required by law to be covered by insurance in the state of New York.

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AFC Info at BreastCancer.org!

By Not Putting on a Shirt / August 4, 2022

Breastcancer.org is the premier online educational resource for breast cancer, with information about risk, diagnosis, treatments, surgical options, survivorship and […]

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Update on NPOAS Oncology Nursing Conference Exhibit

By Not Putting on a Shirt / June 5, 2022

NPOAS represented FLAT the last week of April 2022 at the Oncology Nursing Society ‘s 2022 Congress! Huge thanks to lead volunteer […]

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NY AFC Bill Passes in Senate!

By Not Putting on a Shirt / June 5, 2022

This Just In… NY Bill has PASSED in the Senate! As of May 31st, the New York AFC bill has […]

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NCCN’s 2022 Guidelines for Patients Updated to Include “Flat Closure”

By Not Putting on a Shirt / May 5, 2022

A Huge WIN for Patient Education! Groundbreaking News! Absolutely stellar news from flat advocates Robyn Towt (GPAC) and Andrea Citarelli […]

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NY Bill A8537 Marching Forward!

By Not Putting on a Shirt / May 3, 2022

Big news on the legislative advocacy front! NY Bill A8537 – Insurance Coverage for AFC has just cleared a major […]

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NPOAS at Oncology Nursing Society Conference

By Not Putting on a Shirt / April 29, 2022

NPOAS is representing FLAT this week at the Oncology Nursing Society ‘s 2022 Congress! Huge thanks to lead volunteer Renee […]

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#ASBRS2022 Conference Update

By Not Putting on a Shirt / April 23, 2022

We were so happy to be able to exhibit at the annual meeting of the The American Society of Breast […]

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ASPS Supports NY Bill

By Not Putting on a Shirt / February 8, 2022

HUGE NEWS! The American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) and the New York State Society of Plastic Surgeons are supporting […]

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NPOAS Exhibiting at ASBRS Conference 2022

By Not Putting on a Shirt / February 1, 2022

History is going to be made at the American Society of Breast Surgeons annual conference in Spring 2022 in Las Vegas. The […]

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Milestones in AFC Advocacy 2020-2021

By Not Putting on a Shirt / December 26, 2021

Thanks to the tireless work of flat advocates and our supporters, and despite a global pandemic, we saw major progress […]

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ASPS Roundtable Includes AFC

By Not Putting on a Shirt / November 30, 2021

The new American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) Breast Reconstruction Roundtable (a six part series) includes aesthetic flat closure and SWIM (Goldilocks)!

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Corrie Kamminga, Ronduit Plat

NPOAS Welcomes Ronduit Plat to the Council of International Advocates!

By Not Putting on a Shirt / November 26, 2021

NPOAS is thrilled to welcome Corrie Kamminga (Netherlands) of Ronduit Plat to our Council of International Advocates! “In the Netherlands, […]

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Fall 2021 AFC in the Media Roundup

By Not Putting on a Shirt / November 26, 2021

May 05, 2021 “People have questioned me for not getting implants but the truth is none of us feel truly […]

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Scar Patterns: There are many ways to produce an aesthetic flat closure.

Research is Making the Case for Aesthetic Flat Closure

By Not Putting on a Shirt / April 14, 2021

Improving the standard of care for aesthetic flat closure must be based on evidence… evidence that we are now seeing come to fruition.

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Breaking! Aesthetic Flat Closure Research Just Published in Annals of Surgical Oncology

By Not Putting on a Shirt / January 4, 2021

Historic flat closure research published in the Annals of Surgical Oncology

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Quebec dictionary mastectomie a fini plat aesthetic flat closure Marie-Claude Belzile advocate

Progress: Marie-Claude Belzile’s Petition Gets Traction in Québec’s National Assembly

By Not Putting on a Shirt / October 29, 2020

After getting “mastectomie a fini plat” on the books, Marie-Claude Belzile’s petition is getting traction in the Québec National Assembly!

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NYBRA website aesthetic flat closure valid reconstructive choice

Aesthetic Flat Closure on the NYBRA Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery!

By Not Putting on a Shirt / October 11, 2020

Plastic surgeons are spreading the word – aesthetic flat closure. Our sincere thanks to Directory surgeon Dr. Ron Israeli and […]

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Quebec dictionary mastectomie a fini plat aesthetic flat closure Marie-Claude Belzile advocate

Progress in Québec: “Mastectomie à fini plat”

By Not Putting on a Shirt / October 10, 2020

Progress in Québec! Their online French-English translation database, Grand dictionnaire terminologique, now includes “mastectomie à fini plat“, the French analogue […]

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Infographic Council of International Advocates aesthetic flat closure global flat advocacy movement

Announcing our Council of International Advocates

By Not Putting on a Shirt / August 31, 2020

Announcing our Council of International Advocates! Flat advocacy is a global movement, with a common purpose. The Council of International […]

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Flat closure after mastectomy: are your patients satisfied with the results? SABCS19 poster Not Putting on a Shirt Patients Expect Flat Closure aesthetic surgical management mastectomy patient consent

Summary of Our Flat Closure Research from #SABCS19

By Not Putting on a Shirt / July 19, 2020

“Flat closure after mastectomy: are your patients satisfied with the results?” NPOAS presented our poster at the 2019 San Antonio […]

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Infographic aesthetic flat closure on DSLF Susan Love website breast cancer glossary #putflatonthemenu

Aesthetic Flat Closure – Word is Spreading!

By Not Putting on a Shirt / July 7, 2020

Pioneering breast cancer research organization, the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation, has added “aesthetic flat closure” to their webpage on […]

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Infographic aesthetic flat closure on Wikipedia breast cancer definition #putflatonthemenu

Aesthetic Flat Closure is now on Wikipedia

By Not Putting on a Shirt / July 4, 2020

Aesthetic flat closure is now on Wikipedia, the open source online encyclopedia.

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Infographic aesthetic flat closure Going Flat? Let's be clear. Tell your surgeon you want an aesthetic flat closure as defined by the NCI so you get a smooth flat chest.

Spread the Word: Aesthetic FLAT Closure

By Not Putting on a Shirt / July 3, 2020

Going FLAT? Let’s be clear. Tell your surgeon you want an “aesthetic flat closure” as defined by the National Cancer Institute so your surgeon will know exactly what you want: a smooth, flat chest.

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Banner Not Putting on a Shirt going flat photos and resources core values 501(c)(3) organization advocating for optimal surgical outcomes for women who choose to go flat after mastectomy

How We Do It

By Not Putting on a Shirt / June 29, 2020

How we do it: a look inside our past, present and planned advocacy work to #putflatonthemenu

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Flat Friendly Surgeons Directory milestone infographic Not Putting on a Shirt aesthetic flat closure surgeon near you

Flat Friendly Surgeons Directory Milestone!

By Not Putting on a Shirt / June 27, 2020

The NPOAS Flat Friendly Surgeon’s Directory now has over 200 listings!

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Dr. Deanna Attai flat closure research poster visual abstract statistics 35% not offered flat as an option 30% surgeon did not support patient decision ASBRS UCLA

Dr. Attai’s Flat Closure Research Poster

By Not Putting on a Shirt / June 27, 2020

Dr. Attai (UCLA) publishes historic flat closure research poster

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Infographic aesthetic flat closure Going Flat? Let's be clear. Tell your surgeon you want an aesthetic flat closure as defined by the NCI so you get a smooth flat chest.

NCI Adds “Aesthetic Flat Closure” to Dictionary

By Not Putting on a Shirt / June 27, 2020

NCI has just defined “aesthetic flat closure” as a unique reconstructive procedure requiring an aesthetic surgical approach – a huge milestone for flat parity

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Oncoplastic Breast Consortium OPBC logo optimal flat closure

OPBC Adds “Optimal Flat Closure” to Mission

By Not Putting on a Shirt / April 19, 2020

The Oncoplastic Breast Consortium has added “optimal flat closure” to their mission – a huge milestone for flat parity

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Bill of Rights road sign

Empowering Patients with a Bill of Rights

By Not Putting on a Shirt / March 29, 2020

Coalition of surgeons & researchers proposes a Cancer Patient’s Bill of Rights highlighting shared decision making and informed consent

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