HEALTH REFORM: Color it Pink

As U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius emphasizes, "One in eight women will have breast cancer at some point in their life but fewer women are dying from it because of medical advances in detection and treatment." But we still have many problems to address -- including the out of pocket costs of cancer care, and the difficulties cancer patients have in getting ongoing insurance coverage with a dreaded "pre-existing condition." Health reform can help, a fact underscored by all those pink outfits and accessories last Friday at an American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network White House Breast Cancer Awareness event .

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of death for women with cancer, but many women don't get regular exams. The Department of Health and Human Services reports that in 2005, 67 percent of women aged 40 and older had a mammogram within the past 2 years -- a fall in screening since 2003. There are complex reasons for that -- but insurance and cost is part of the picture.

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) just released an updated booklet, Understanding Breast Changes: A Health Guide for Women that encourages women to:

• Follow-up with their health care providers about any breast changes
• Address and understand their breast cancer screening results
• Learn about follow-up tests that diagnose breast changes
• Learn about specific breast changes and treatment
• Be reassured that most breast changes, even "abnormal" changes, are not cancerous
• Track personal and family medical history
• Find emotional support if necessary

As we've written about several times before (here and here), health reform needs to work for women. In 2009 alone, 192,370 American women will be diagnosed with breast cancer, and 40,170 will die. A study by Health Affairs indicates that in 2007, breast cancer patients with employer-based insurance had annual out-of-pocket costs averaging $6,250 -- this is higher than annual out-of-pocket costs of asthma, diabetes or high blood pressure patients. (To compare, the Commonwealth Fund reports that in 2007, all adults with employer-based insurance faced an average of $729 in out-pocket-costs.)

And remember -- those are women lucky enough to have coverage. At the Breast Cancer Awareness event Friday morning, organized by First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden, several breast cancer survivors spoke of the challenges they face finding coverage. Joni Lownsdale, 46, explains that while she is seven years past her initial breast cancer diagnosis, and her physician tells her that she has just a five percent chance of recurrence, cancer made her uninsurable. Watch Joni Lownsdale tell her story:

The health care system needs to work for the people who need it the most, when they need it the most. Science and innovation have enabled us to detect and treat cancer; however, resources need to be more accessible and affordable. Health reform is critical in the fight against cancer. Women (or men for that matter) should never have to choose between their health or their finances.