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* UPDATED x1 * Cancer screening cuts decried

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* Expect more stories like this one as the news media moves through the governor’s proposed budget…

Without the Illinois Breast and Cervical Cancer Program, Janna Sullivan says she almost certainly would have delayed or avoided getting the screening X-ray that found cancer in her right breast and led to successful treatment nearly five years ago. […]

Sullivan joined other women’s health care advocates in criticizing Gov. Bruce Rauner’s proposed 71 percent cut in state funding for the program in the fiscal year that begins July 1. They called on the General Assembly to turn down or soften the proposed $9.8 million reduction.

If put into effect, they said, the new Republican governor’s proposal would lead to almost 50 percent fewer low-income women being screened by the program and longer waiting lists, all resulting in delayed diagnosis of cancer and earlier deaths. […]

The State Journal-Register requested an interview with a member of the Rauner administration. Rauner spokeswoman Catherine Kelly instead responded with an emailed statement: “With the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, women who may have used the program have now migrated to expanded Medicaid or to the Illinois Marketplace where they can find comprehensive health care and not just a stopgap measure.” […]

Despite the Affordable Care Act, the cancer society says more than 192,600 women in Illinois lacked access to cervical cancer screenings in 2014, and more than 80,000 women lacked access to breast cancer screenings — all because of lack of insurance or high out-of-pocket costs in insurance plans.

*** UPDATE *** From this past December…

Chicago designer Barbara Bates will design the gown for Illinois’ new first lady, Diana Rauner.

In October, Bates held her annual fundraiser fashion show in which the models are breast cancer survivors. It was also during the closely-contested race for governor.

When Rauner took the microphone it wasn’t for politics. She shared her mother’s battle with breast cancer and promised to call Bates if her husband won the governor’s seat. […]

Bates has been raising money for breast cancer awareness since she was diagnosed in 2006.

posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Mar 2, 15 @ 10:09 am

Comments

I would hate being a HGOP or SGOP member and knowing… “You’re a green light, or you have a problem” when it comes down to stories like this coming out.

Don’t worry, Rep. Sandack will tell you why you don’t want to “turn” on Uihline or Rauner…Sandack learned the quickest.

Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Mar 2, 15 @ 10:14 am
Boy these Republican governors love that Obamacare.

Comment by walker Monday, Mar 2, 15 @ 10:21 am
Now that he western front on unionized labor is in full scale warfare, it looks as though Commandant Rauner has decided to declare ‘War on Women’?

Does this guy know how to pick his battles or what?

1. The poor
2. The disabled
3. Preventative breast screenings

Unreal.

Comment by How Ironic Monday, Mar 2, 15 @ 10:22 am
Does anyone know if the Rail golf course has a green fee package available at a discount for July and August??

Comment by Not Rich Monday, Mar 2, 15 @ 10:27 am
@Not Rich

This isn’t craigslist or google. Stay on topic.

Comment by How Ironic Monday, Mar 2, 15 @ 10:28 am
Not enough information. First of all, if these ladies don’t have any health insurance, that’s a big problem right there. Time to do some outreach. Health insurance coverage is the law.

But if they are insured, and the coverage isn’t sufficient, I don’t want to let the insurance companies off the hook here. The state should pay what the insurance companies won’t cover, but negotiations with insurance companies on coverage should be tough.

Comment by Cassandra Monday, Mar 2, 15 @ 10:32 am
These cuts are only necessary to pay for tax breaks that go disproportionately to the wealthy, the result of the expiration of 2014 income tax rates that Rauner pushed for and continues to defend.

Bruce Rauner: Tax cuts for the rich, program cuts for women with cancer.

Comment by Reality Check Monday, Mar 2, 15 @ 10:32 am
-walker: You don’t get it, do you? Obamacare is costing the State more, so I agree with
-Cassandra: in that the women that would be taking advantage of the State program, should be insured.

Comment by Gone, but not forgotten Monday, Mar 2, 15 @ 10:40 am
This one isn’t quite as simple to criticize as some of the other proposed cuts. The State has put tens of millions of dollars into this program and the ADAP program, on top of Federal dollars, before Obamacare was implemented. With Obamacare, these State dollars ought to come down, but the interest groups who got these moneys into the budget in the first place view the money as “theirs” and have resisted re-programming for two years. I don’t believe what the GO says, but I don’t believe the interest groups are being entirely honest, either. Yes, there may be co-pays when folks move to Obamacare, but there are co-pays for everyone and (almost) everything. Why should the State subsidize the co-pays for this alone?

Comment by Anonymous Monday, Mar 2, 15 @ 10:46 am
@Anonymous:
“Yes, there may be co-pays when folks move to Obamacare, but there are co-pays for everyone and (almost) everything. Why should the State subsidize the co-pays for this alone?”

1. Because the ‘cost’ of the co-pay assistance far outweighs the downstream cost to the system if these cancers are allowed to grow unabated. $50 copay assistance now, sure outweighs the $50,000 cost of treating the cancer aggressively later no?

2. Optics. Today we just found out that Rauner has approved a $600,000 INCREASE in motorcycle safety training money. This is on top of the 11.2 MILLION the fund gets to help riders get trained to ride in the State of Illinois (for free). And yet today….Rauner is ripping away assistance to help pay for breast cancer screenings. Yeah…that’s a great idea.

Comment by How Ironic Monday, Mar 2, 15 @ 11:00 am
Will the Affordable Care Act cover Rauner’s self-inflicted wounds?

– MrJM

Comment by MrJM Monday, Mar 2, 15 @ 11:03 am
@MJM,

No, because many of the plans have high deductibles. So the women have ‘coverage’ but can’t afford the benefits. Unfortunate.

They might be able to scrape together the deductible if it’s a crisis, but if money is tight…why get screened, when you need that $50 to pay for groceries and keep your hungry kids mouths fed.

Comment by How Ironic Monday, Mar 2, 15 @ 11:07 am
Well said Walker.

Comment by Norseman Monday, Mar 2, 15 @ 11:22 am
On the bright side, these low-income women may be eligible for free motorcycle lessons.

Comment by Wordslinger Monday, Mar 2, 15 @ 11:22 am
Okay-I’m not going to fight this battle of the mindset of this comment board. I hope if I have to fight the war of high co-pays to my State retiree insurance, that this option will be available to me, but it probably won’t and then I too can choose between food and screening.

Comment by Gone, but not forgotten Monday, Mar 2, 15 @ 11:29 am
How Ironic - what you say is true about everything that’s covered but has a co-pay. If folks skip their medication for chronic diseases due to co-pays, there are downstream health costs. If they skip a colonoscopy, there are downstream costs. If men fail to get a DRE, there are downstream costs. If cancer treatments are skipped, there are downstream costs. Why should the state single out this one procedure (and AIDS drugs) for millions of dollars of subsidy?

Comment by Anonymous Monday, Mar 2, 15 @ 11:31 am
@Anon,
“Why should the state single out this one procedure (and AIDS drugs) for millions of dollars of subsidy?”

Because it’s the right thing to do? If Gov Rauner can afford to raise the appropriation for FREE motorcycle training courses…while paying for them by slashing breast cancer screenings, is that moral or ethical?

The guy isn’t even considering raising revenue. He’d rather throw the poorest of the poor off heating assistance, remove children from vents, and now cut cancer screening for low income women.

But by golly…if you like to ride motercycles YOU GET INCREASED FUNDING! Woooot!

Keep defending him.

Comment by How Ironic Monday, Mar 2, 15 @ 11:40 am
Gone, but not: please note I was commenting on Rauner’s own spokesperson who brought up ACA as the cover.

I likely agree with Cassandra.

Comment by walker Monday, Mar 2, 15 @ 11:44 am
In the old days it was easier to cut things without much public notice. But now it’s all in a spreadsheet you can get online and there’s no hiding cuts like this.

It will interesting to hear the administration’s defense of this move, particularly in light of the personal connection.

Comment by DuPage Dave Monday, Mar 2, 15 @ 11:46 am
“Why should the state single out this one procedure (and AIDS drugs) for millions of dollars of subsidy?”

It shouldn’t “single them out”- it should pay for them all.

But, resources and political will being limited, that’s not the question in the hopper right now, and I’ll gladly take “fund some” over “fund nothing”.

Comment by Arsenal Monday, Mar 2, 15 @ 11:47 am
–Why should the state single out this one procedure….–

Is that a gag? What do you think a budget is? Thousands of choice, thousands of decisions on priorities.

Comment by Wordslinger Monday, Mar 2, 15 @ 12:01 pm
@Arsenal:
“But, resources and political will being limited, that’s not the question in the hopper right now, and I’ll gladly take “fund some” over “fund nothing”.”

Did you just buy a motorcycle? Looking for some free lessons? Because that’s what’s being funded. Not assistance for those that are impoverished, elderly, or sick. But those that just bought a motorcycle.

Great choice!

Comment by How Ironic Monday, Mar 2, 15 @ 12:24 pm
=== “Yes, there may be co-pays when folks move to Obamacare, but there are co-pays for everyone and (almost) everything. Why should the State subsidize the co-pays for this alone?” ===

The purpose of the copay is to prevent people from abusing the system by seeking more than their share of care.

I don’t think we have to worry about women bogarting the breast cancer screenings. From what I have heard, they aren’t that much fun.

Comment by Juvenal Monday, Mar 2, 15 @ 1:32 pm
Motorcycles yes, cancer screenings no. ridiculous.

Comment by Amalia Monday, Mar 2, 15 @ 1:35 pm
Rauner’s priority is to take services from the poor, the disabled, and women who need preventative breast screenings rather than keep taxes at the same rate as last year.

Comment by anon Monday, Mar 2, 15 @ 1:41 pm
@ How Ironic

I think we agree on this one.

Comment by Arsenal Monday, Mar 2, 15 @ 2:11 pm
The breast and cervical cancer screening program, and the follow up legislation to allow women diagnosed with cancer to have access to treatment under Medicaid, were bipartisan, federal bills. Every state adopted them. This is because of all cancers, both breast and cervical cancers have early detection (screening) tools, and because when found early, both cancers are much more treatable and survivable (and therefore cheaper on the system).

In terms of dollars—it’s not the copays of any particular insurance product (ACA or otherwise) that makes screening difficult. Screenings are not subject to a co-pay or deductible, per the Affordable Care Act. However, many screenings result in diagnostic tests (diagnostic mammograms, biopsies, etc.). If you have to pay the first $5,000 or $7,000 of health expenditures out of pocket because you have a high deductible plan, you may skip on your diagnostic tests. Then if you had a cancer, by the time it’s really found it’s because you are having symptoms you cannot ignore and likely it’s a later stage. I assume that we want women healthy for as long as possible—not just for moral/ethical reasons, but because for the most part the women who use this program are working and paying taxes. They just aren’t able to afford great health insurance, are not offered health insurance through their employers, or are part-time workers.

To cut the treatment part—well, that’s just reprehensible. So, we’ll pay for some screenings—maybe even get to the point where we tell a woman she has cancer, and then wish her luck as she tries to figure out the best health insurance plan to pay for her treatment, when she likely doesn’t have much time to spare. And if all she can afford is a high deductible plan, let’s hope she can muster up the $5,000 or so to start her treatment on time.

Comment by Health Policy Nerd Monday, Mar 2, 15 @ 2:13 pm
Nothing this man or his administration does shocks me. I wonder when his next executive order declaring Tuesdays in October will be mandatory Carharrt days for all state employees in AFSCME will be declared.

Comment by Jorge Monday, Mar 2, 15 @ 2:18 pm
Oops, I mean Health Nerd. No sarcasm intended.

Comment by Cassandra Monday, Mar 2, 15 @ 4:15 pm
BVR: “Who needs an early screenin’ for cancer when you can ride your motorcycle to the emer-ency room?”

Comment by Central Scrutinizer Monday, Mar 2, 15 @ 6:27 pm
How about simply offering free- no co-pay-lobotomies to any governor wearing a Carhart? Works for me!

Comment by Peoria democrat Monday, Mar 2, 15 @ 9:02 pm