The new guidelines by Health Preventative Services Task Force will probably affect first the recipients of government health care if Medicaid stops reimbursements for mammograms for women under 50. Right now mammograms are covered in the Medicaid program.
Prior to 1997, the general consensus among medical professionals was that women younger than 50 did not need screening mammograms. However the American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute publicized new recommendations in March 1997 that said women between the ages of 40 and 49 should receive screening mammograms every year.
For two administrations in the White House, both First Ladies Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush promoted the early detection of the breast cancer in the countries of the Middle East where women often are not allowed to visit a doctor, because of religious believes that condemn their bodies to be seen from anybody else but their husbands. Obama Administration’s health panel just took the women health care decade backward, not only in America, but all over the world. After years of encouraging wellness, America moves back into turning a blind eye to the prevention of breast cancer.
Women paid attention and took notice of what doctors said in 1997, according to study performed in Yale University. Lisa Calvocoressi, Ph.D., and her team found that the percentage of women in their 40s who believed an annual screening mammogram is a good idea increased from 49 to 64 percent in just two short years. Further, 32 percent of women in the 40 to 49 age group who did not originally endorse annual screening changed their opinion and supported it in follow-up interviews. Women started wearing pink ribbons for breast cancer awareness. Even the NFL players put some pink to support the cause.
And now the government science tell us : never mind. The screening often gives false results and the mammograms are unnecessary. What about those who get the true results? The earlier they learn it - the better is there chance to live through it.
In his speeches the President always talks how we should be a positive example for the world. Looks like the new era in the US health care will be a sad example how to cut care instead of costs. Welcome to the culture of government panels rationing health care.
November 18th, 2009 at 5:29 am
There’s a Breast and Lung cancer screen being
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false positive rate.) They have a sign up
newsletter list at Dogs4cancer.com
November 18th, 2009 at 5:31 am
Shame on you for such a misleading title! Obama had absolutely nothing to do with the formulation of this opinion. Instead, this statement was issued by the Health Preventative Services Task Force - a group that was established in 1984 and is currently full of GW Bush appointees.
It’s things like this - this title and many other purposefully misleading lies - that are quickly driving me away from the Republican party once and for all.
November 18th, 2009 at 6:45 am
Dear Reader, the task force issued an opinion, the White House endorsed this opinion on their site. The link is here
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2009/11/17/reality-check-beware-what-2
I believe my title is correct.
And by the way I am not Republican, I am registered Independent and define myself as conservative.
November 18th, 2009 at 6:49 am
Doug Pratt, interesting research, but there are not enough trained dog to sniff every woman for prevention - until we get those - I recommend mammograms - Obama recommends: don’t worry, be happy.
November 18th, 2009 at 8:48 am
As a life long democrat I have moved to independent. It’s scary that the white house would jump up and endorse when many doctors who work with cancer patients, and do cancer research have not, none of the doctors on the panel where cancer specialists either. Very Very scary. What other things are next to go? Seems like women are the first on the hitlist.
November 18th, 2009 at 3:08 pm
I would therefore assume that michelle obama, nancy pelosi, her daughter, hillary clinton, her daughter, katherine sabelius, and the rest of the lady liberals would agree to not getting a mammogram until 50 as well….
November 18th, 2009 at 6:15 pm
I love the small of health care rationing in the morning.
November 19th, 2009 at 5:28 am
[...] needn’t have exerted himself, though: had he waited long enough, the government would start lowering as many standards as possible in the holy name of cost [...]
November 19th, 2009 at 5:51 am
[...] Obama: Mammograms for Women Under 50 Unnecessary - Right Pundits [...]
November 19th, 2009 at 2:00 pm
Why is everything in this country blamed on Obama? The panel who recommends this are all bush appointees but now we blame the President…why don’t we ask the WH to agree that these test should begin at age 30 or 20…if your Dr. believes you should have the test due to high risk or symptoms, you will have one but lets not make this political…shame on the author of this article blaming the President but not the former administration…it seems that there was no history in this country before Jan 19, 2009.
November 19th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
John a. - the same task force under President Bush had opposite opinion. At the time I wrote the post the White House was endorsing the panel’s opinion on their blog. Later after the backlash the recommendation caused the HHS secretary Sibelius came out in a statement that the federal policy remains unchanged at this time. Which is a good news and good for everybody who brought awareness to the issue and told the Government: no so fast.
November 19th, 2009 at 5:02 pm
1. The new recommendations (not written in stone policy) are that women aged 40-49 should not automatically get a mammogram every year, but that they should discuss with their doctors individually as to whether they need or should have one.
2. A lot of what the task force says is there’s not yet sufficient information about a lot of breast cancer screening tests.
That would lead me to believe that what they left OFF would be that a tremendous amount of money spent on screening (not diagnostic) mammograms should be diverted to tests that can detect cancer better and even earlier than mammograms.
Read it and realize that political pressure (ie, Sibelius’ response) in health decisions is never conducive to good health. And that is the primary reason health care should not be government controlled.
http://www.ahrq.gov/CLINIC/uspstf/uspsbrca.htm
November 19th, 2009 at 6:13 pm
Donna B., your opinion is fair and rooted in the actual documents, which few actually looked at. I spent a lot of time on the site - and most of the research that our money go to is very politically loaded. There are ridiculous findings like black women in St.Loise get more mammograms then white women, black women feel differently about obesity, Hispanic women don get hip-replacements as the rest of us. It is race-baiting science - all that this task force does both under Bush and Obama. Just using tax-payers money for questionable research. Government should stay away from the medical research, because government has an agenda.
November 19th, 2009 at 6:50 pm
“Why is everything in this country blamed on Obama? The panel who recommends this are all bush appointees but now we blame the President…”
“meet the new boss, not the same as the old boss”
Hes simply trying to feel his way thru what are acceptible means of cost containment and whats not. He just found out real quick this is not one of the measures he should employ.
This is just the beggining of whats going to be a massive invasion of patients rights
Anyone who cant see that needs help.
November 21st, 2009 at 7:28 pm
I think mammograms need to be done earlier than later. I am 20 years old, I just had my first mammogram done about 3 weeks and I just found out that I have breast cancer. I say its better to be safe then sorry.