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Making cancer
survivors of the
uninsured
This story first
appeared in the
summer/fall 2009
issue of
Ohio University
Medicine. It was
updated and edited
by Charlie Martinez
to be published
during October
2011’s Breast Cancer
Awareness Month.
By
Colleen Kiphart
Illustration by
Danette Pratt
Oct.
17, 2011
When Anne* found a
lump in her breast,
she thought little
of it. She had found
benign cysts in the
past―and paid out of
pocket to have them
removed and
examined. If this
were a movie, a
foreshadowing
refrain may have
swelled in the
background as she
did her
self-examination,
fading to a tenuous
tune as she
dismissed it. But
there is no
soundtrack to warn
us of what is to
come, no warning
sign that says,
“This time is
different.”
Anne was diabetic,
and as she needed it
more, health
insurance became
harder to afford
and, ultimately,
impossible to
obtain.
“She was waiting to
get a mammogram
until she turned 65,
which is when
Medicare would have
kicked in,” said
Kathy Trace, M.H.A.,
director of Ohio
University Heritage
College of
Osteopathic Medicine
(OU-HCOM)'s
Community Health
Programs (CHP) and a
friend of Anne’s.
“She died two days
before her 65th
birthday.”
According to the
American Medical
Association, 46
million Americans
are uninsured, which
can lead to a cycle
of self-diagnosis,
self-neglect and
self-denial that can
be fatal.
Anne worked every
day until the pain
prevented her from
being mobile. A few
weeks before she
succumbed to breast
cancer, she implored
Trace to tell her
story. According to
Trace, Anne’s
tragedy is a common
one, but in
Southeastern Ohio at
least, she says, “it
doesn’t have to be.”
Trace and her
colleagues at
OU-HCOM offer free
and reduced-cost
mammograms,
ultrasounds,
biopsies and other
diagnostic tests for
both breast and
cervical cancer to
uninsured and
underinsured women
at high risk,
including women over
the age of 50 and
those with previous
breast abnormalities
and/or a family
history of cancer.
The breast and
cervical cancer
screenings are
provided through
CHP’s Healthy Adult
Program and funded
by the Columbus
affiliate of Susan
G. Komen for the
Cure, the Ohio
Breast and Cervical
Cancer Project
(BCCP), and the Ohio
Association of Free
Clinics. Komen, one
of the program’s
greatest supporters,
awarded the Healthy
Adult Project Breast
Screening Program
$65,715 in 2011, for
a total of $672,244
since 2001.
“When an uninsured
patient is diagnosed
with cancer, the
BCCP refers them to
a primary care
physician in the
state,” Trace said.
“And if the women
are members of the
BCCP before they are
diagnosed, (the
BCCP) also covers
the full cost of
treatment.”
Since 1994, the OHIO
program has screened
more than 50,000
women for breast and
cervical cancer,
including 487
screened in 2010 at
over 65 different
clinics. CHP’s
Healthy Adult
Project Breast
Screening Program
covers a 15-county
area through its
mobile health units
and its
Heritage Community
Clinic, which is
located in Grosvenor
Hall.
Despite these
promising figures,
stories like Anne’s
persist,
underscoring the
need to increase
awareness of CHP and
other services.
Unaware of Anne’s
breast lump, Trace,
who had known her
for years, referred
Anne to a local
physician when she
complained of back
and bone pain.
Unfortunately that
physician, who
diagnosed her
cancer, was not
affiliated with the
BCCP. With the
diagnosis of
advanced breast
cancer from a
non-BCCP physician,
it was too late to
qualify for free
treatment.
“She would have been
a perfect candidate
for this service,
had we known
earlier,” Trace
says.
Before she died,
Anne expressed her
desire to spread the
word to uninsured
community members
about the importance
of early
detection―and about
OU-HCOM’s free
services.
Trace described Anne
as an open and
generous person,
fondly remembered
and sorely missed by
her family and wide
circle of friends.
“She was always one
to help others. This
is one way for that
to continue―her way
of being a friend to
those she never
met.”
The two biggest risk
factors for
developing breast
cancer―growing older
and being a
woman―are
unavoidable, Trace
says. But regular
self-examinations,
discussions with
your doctor, and
yearly
mammograms―all in
conjunction with a
healthy
lifestyle―can reduce
your risk and give
you the greatest
advantage in the
fight against
cancer: finding it
early.
Programs like the
Healthy Adult
Project Breast
Screening Program
can help with early
detection. In 2010
alone, the program
assisted to diagnose
three cases of
breast cancer that
would have gone
undetected. Carrie
Johnson, R.N., the
nurse coordinator
for the
program,
regularly follows up
with diagnosed
patients during and
after treatment.
“Our hope is that
women age 40 and
older will continue
to take advantage of
early detection
methods―mammography
plus clinical breast
exam.” Johnson said.
“The key to
mammography
screening is that it
be done
routinely―once is
not enough.”
This month
screenings will be
held:
• Oct. 18 – United
Methodist Church,
Tuppers Plains
• Oct. 19 –
Woodsfield Church of
Christ, Woodsfield
• Oct. 25 – Hocking
Valley Community
Hospital, Logan
• Oct. 26 – Perry
County Senior
Center, New
Lexington
To schedule a breast
exam through the
Healthy Adult Breast
Screening Program,
call 1.800.844.2654.
*Names have been
changed to protect
individual privacy.
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