So why the fervent outcry from many Americans and health care organizations over the new federal guidelines pertaining to mammograms?
The Washington Post reports:
“The new recommendations took on added significance because under health-care reform legislation pending in Congress, the conclusions of the 16-member task force would set standards for what preventive services insurance plans would be required to cover at little or no cost.”
The American Cancer Society, which endorsed the recent health care bill that passed the House of Representatives, publicly condemned the new guidelines.
LIVESTRONG CEO Doug Ulman also joined in the criticism:
“Since the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force issued these reversals, LIVESTRONG and our partners at the American Cancer Society have heard from legions of women under 50 who are breast cancer survivors and many more whose lives were saved as a result of a routine self-exam. The work that has saved their lives must be sustained, not discarded.”
There is arguably a great deal of waste in our health care system. But to focus cost concerns on one of the most positive aspects of our system (cancer screening and cancer treatment) simply defies all common sense.
Indeed, First Lady Michelle Obama praised US superiority in this area of medicine just last month at a White House Breast Cancer Awareness event:
“And today, because of that work, the number of women getting regular mammograms has dramatically increased, and the five-year survival rate when breast cancer is diagnosed in time is 98 percent -- and that's compared to 74 percent in the early 80s.
“And today, we spend $900 million on breast cancer research, which is 30 times more than what we spent in 1982. So we have come a long way.”
And, just maybe, more government control of the health care sector is not the answer.
According to this June 2009 study by the Employment Policies Institute, both insured and uninsured American women fare substantially better than their Canadian counterparts (who we are told enjoy universal coverage) in the area of cancer screening:
“When it comes to cancer screening, 80 percent of insured women (in the USA) ages 40-64 had a mammogram within two years of the interview; and 87 percent when the period of receipt is extended to 5 years. That compares to 49 percent of uninsured women who had a mammogram within two years and 65 percent when the period is within 5 years. However, those screening rates are relatively high even for uninsured women when compared with screening rates in Canada, a country with universal health coverage. The Canadian health survey reports that 65 percent of Canadian women ages 40-69 had a mammogram within the past 5 years, the same percentage as uninsured women in the U.S. When it comes to Pap Smears, Canadian women also have about the same rate of screening over the past five years as uninsured women in the U.S. (80 percent), although those rates are below those of insured American women, among whom 92 percent were screened. Among U.S. men ages 40-64, 52 percent of those with insurance were screened for prostate cancer with a PSA test within the past 5 years, compared to 31 percent for men who are uninsured. (In Canada, the comparable percent is 16 percent.)”
Food for thought.
The Washington Post reports:
“The new recommendations took on added significance because under health-care reform legislation pending in Congress, the conclusions of the 16-member task force would set standards for what preventive services insurance plans would be required to cover at little or no cost.”
The American Cancer Society, which endorsed the recent health care bill that passed the House of Representatives, publicly condemned the new guidelines.
LIVESTRONG CEO Doug Ulman also joined in the criticism:
“Since the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force issued these reversals, LIVESTRONG and our partners at the American Cancer Society have heard from legions of women under 50 who are breast cancer survivors and many more whose lives were saved as a result of a routine self-exam. The work that has saved their lives must be sustained, not discarded.”
There is arguably a great deal of waste in our health care system. But to focus cost concerns on one of the most positive aspects of our system (cancer screening and cancer treatment) simply defies all common sense.
Indeed, First Lady Michelle Obama praised US superiority in this area of medicine just last month at a White House Breast Cancer Awareness event:
“And today, because of that work, the number of women getting regular mammograms has dramatically increased, and the five-year survival rate when breast cancer is diagnosed in time is 98 percent -- and that's compared to 74 percent in the early 80s.
“And today, we spend $900 million on breast cancer research, which is 30 times more than what we spent in 1982. So we have come a long way.”
And, just maybe, more government control of the health care sector is not the answer.
According to this June 2009 study by the Employment Policies Institute, both insured and uninsured American women fare substantially better than their Canadian counterparts (who we are told enjoy universal coverage) in the area of cancer screening:
“When it comes to cancer screening, 80 percent of insured women (in the USA) ages 40-64 had a mammogram within two years of the interview; and 87 percent when the period of receipt is extended to 5 years. That compares to 49 percent of uninsured women who had a mammogram within two years and 65 percent when the period is within 5 years. However, those screening rates are relatively high even for uninsured women when compared with screening rates in Canada, a country with universal health coverage. The Canadian health survey reports that 65 percent of Canadian women ages 40-69 had a mammogram within the past 5 years, the same percentage as uninsured women in the U.S. When it comes to Pap Smears, Canadian women also have about the same rate of screening over the past five years as uninsured women in the U.S. (80 percent), although those rates are below those of insured American women, among whom 92 percent were screened. Among U.S. men ages 40-64, 52 percent of those with insurance were screened for prostate cancer with a PSA test within the past 5 years, compared to 31 percent for men who are uninsured. (In Canada, the comparable percent is 16 percent.)”
Food for thought.
