Obama administration and Companies say: Mammogram coverage won't change!

The Obama administration distanced itself from new standards recommended this week by U.S. Preventivate services Task Force -USPSTF- saying government insurance programs would continue to cover routine mammograms for women start at age 40.

Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services stressed that the task force "is an outside indipendent panel of doctors and scientist who make recommendations" and who neither "set federal policy" nor "determine what services are covered by the federal government".

She also said: "I would be very surprised if any private insurance company changed its mammography coverage".



And now, let's see what companies say.

USA TODAY contacted same companies (Kaiser Permanente, Aetna, Cigna, Geisinger Health Plan, Group Health Cooperative and WellPoint) and they say that they will continue paying for mammograms for womein in their 40s. Those companies operate Blue Cross/Blue Shield plans in 14 states and cover more than 73 million people.

Companies, however, are not ignoring the task force's advice.

WellPoint says that the company considers the task force's recommandations but also weights advice from the American Cancer Society and American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Group Health Cooperative says that the company plans to look at the task force's recommendations next year but it would still pay for the screening.

Till When?

Breast Cancer Screening: Let's Laugh!

U.S. Preventivate Services Task Force -USPSTF-, on Monday, released new raccomendations for women getting mammograms.

USPSTF now says that women who are not at risk (lack a family history of the disease) should get mammogram once every two years starting at age 50. Here is the reasons (they say):

• mammograph yeld modest benefits -don't make me laugh-;
• wholesale screening puts women at risk for unnecessary medical treatments.

Before considering above points, I have a question: Who can be considered risk free?

Let's talk about the first point: USPSTF's collected data tell us that screening reduces the breast cancer death rate by 15%. Do you think 15% is not enoguht? Do you think 15% is not relevant?

I think ONE live spared is relevant!
I think US people think the same!
I'm sure GOD thinks the same.

Let's talk about the second point: USPSTF experts tell us that unclear or false results (we are talking about mammograph) can cause doctors to perform invasive tests like biopsies: they can cause patients to suffer extreme anxiety. I agree with them: I don't like needles, scalpes and I hate injections; but if I have to deal with cancer/death I prefer deal with anxiety!

By the way, before you get to do a biopsy why don't you think to do another mammograph in another medical center subjecting it to another specialist (doctor)?

I am an Italian citizen who speaks English badly (and writes it worse!) attending and working with medical researchers: when they read this news have expressed their total dissatisfaction.

They say that women over 40 y.o. have to get their annual mammograms.

Mesothelioma Victims

Mesothelioma is not a disease that can be detected easily as it rarely gives out symptoms at its early stage in the body. Even with the symptoms, diagnosing the disease is difficult as these symptoms are very common with other diseases too.

Within this backdrop, patients' medical histories can help diagnose the disease. Therefore, physicians inquire about a patient's medical history if they suspect mesothelioma might be the case. Then the X-ray is performed and if necessary CT scan or MRI is also performed.

With these scans, the amount of fluid if it is present can be seen and this fluid is then aspirated with the help of a syringe. While a pleural tap is used to extract pleural fluid, the fluid in pericardial cavities is taken out by pericardiocentesis. Paracentesis is performed to take out fluid in abdomen.

If these fluids give out evidences of having mesothelioma, physicians do further tests on patients to prove the conditions clearly. At this stage, mostly a biopsy is done and tissues are sent to the pathologist for microscopic tests. Depending on the locations of the cancer, the methods used for biopsies can be different from each other. As an example, for cancer in the chest, thoracoscopy is performed to get tissues, in which, the physician make small incision on the chest wall and insert a thoracoscope between the ribs. In this way, the doctor can examine the inside of the chest cavities and extract tissue samples for microscopic testing.

On the other hand, to get tissue samples from a mesothelioma patient in the abdominal cavities, a laparoscopy is done. During this procedure a very small cut is made on the abdominal areas large enough to insert an instrument into the abdomen. Sometimes the procedure is not sufficient to take out enough tissues for the microscopic test and if this is the case, another major surgery has to be performed.