Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Sebelius finally releases Breast Cancer research related to Health Care Reform ( sadly it does not address screening for those at risk)

(originally released 10.24.09 during Breast Cancer Awareness Month)
This report was accessible from site, I blogged about it a month ago, "Health Insurance Reform and Breast Cancer: Making the Health Care System Work for Women". NOW the report has been pulled from the site,as of this week the same time that NEW Mammogram Rules have been put in place. My original Complaint when I blogged about THE Missing Report was that it did not address Screening and Mammograms at all.

I wrote to the DHHS at the time to Question WHY Mammogram and Screening Costs were NOT in this report and evaluated as a Prevention Cost. NOW we see that Mammograms are being Eliminated for those under 50, and even Over 50 they are being reccommnded only every other year.BOTH of the NEW Guidelines will NOT prevent Cancer, they will prevent Early Detection which will lead to Higher Mortality Rates and Higher Costs for Late Stage Treatment.
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On the Website that had the report it this Snippet::::
“Thousands of women and their families are impacted by breast cancer,” Secretary Sebelius said. “We are fighting for health reform that will help improve treatment for women with breast cancer and doing all we can to encourage women to take the simple steps that can help prevent this disease.”

The new report highlights the problems in the health care status quo that significantly impact women who are diagnosed with breast cancer or are breast cancer survivors. The report notes:

Breast cancer is the second leading type of cancer among women. The disease will affect one in eight American women during their lifetime, with treatment costs totaling $7 Billion in 2007.

Breast cancer patients with employer-based insurance had total out-of-pocket costs averaging $6,250 in 2007, higher than out-of-pocket spending for patients with asthma, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), or high blood pressure.

Breast cancer patients, even when in remission, are unlikely to find meaningful insurance coverage in the individual insurance market. A full 11 percent of individuals with any cancer said they could not obtain health coverage in the individual insurance market.

“Today, breast cancer patients incur thousands of dollars in debt, and breast cancer survivors struggle to get the affordable care they need,” Sebelius added. “Health insurance reform will bring costs down, make care more affordable and prevent insurance companies from discriminating against breast cancer survivors.”

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