I am by nature a political person. I have opinions. I have ideas. I have feelings. I try very hard to separate these personal points of view from my public “persona” with WORD. We are not a political organization. We are a non-profit organization committed to educating women and initiating new research to help women battle gynecologic cancers. We attempt to never show bias and present all sides to subjects (this is not always possible). So as an organization, we have attempted to lay low as it concerns to the Health Care reform debate. However, now that a law has been signed (and the debate will continue forever), let me state a few personal imperatives that I certainly hope this or any health care reform will solve in regards to gynecologic cancers.
1. I do not want to hear of another woman in the United States being diagnosed with late stage cervical cancer because she couldn’t afford or feared paying for a pap test. I just heard of another lady this week who is near death, not because she is fighting an incurable disease, but rather that she failed to address the warning signs out of fear of the expense of diagnosis and treatment.
2. I want every woman to have access to the most aggressive and progressive treatment for gynecologic cancers. There is a woman that I heard about just two days ago who is fighting reoccurrence of ovarian cancer. She wants and needs a second surgery which has been recommended by multiple doctors. However, she is on Medicaid. None of the doctors who are recommending this treatment work for hospitals who accept her version of Medicaid. She is traveling over 300 miles to reach a surgeon who has promised her the best care AND that she will not need to worry about expenses. Unfortunately, not every woman can even find this situation. I hope health care reform helps every woman fight with the equal vigor and aggressiveness.
Women of all ages need access to all types of care
3. I don’t want to hear of young women not pursuing the HPV vaccination due to cost or lack of insurance coverage. In twenty years, the scientists tell me that we should have nearly eradicated cervical cancer in the United States. Paying for a vaccine should not hinder us from this goal.
4. As I sit with doctors who dream of new diagnostic tests, new treatments, new survivors, I want to know that as we raise funds and initiate their dreams, that no cost or accessibility obstacles will hinder women from having their lives saved.
I am not a politician. I am not an economist. I am usually not partisan. I do not claim to have any idea how to fix health care. I am simply a person who cares. I am a person who hopes the education WORD gives is less about how you could afford the treatments and more about what treatment will give you the best chance of beating these diseases.
Will this Health Care Reform help make these statements come true? I don’t know. But I know this if it doesn’t, we better keep trying!
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