As usual in this bizarre health care system, the poor and uninformed get left out of the system.
Funded by voluntary contributions from license plate sales, Colorado offers a program to pick up the tab for needy women diagnosed with breast cancer - but only if they are diagnosed at designated facilities.
The consequences of being correctly diagnosed at the wrong facility can be worse than economic.
"We do a good job saying, 'Go out and get your mammograms,' but then people pick up the phone and their insurance won't cover it," said Jill Fricker, director of mission initiatives for Komen in Denver.
The Komen mission is particularly important in Colorado, where one in seven women develop breast cancer — higher than the national average of one in eight.
Uninsured cancer patients are 60 percent more likely to die from the disease within five years, compared with people with insurance, Fricker said.
"Who lives and who dies depends largely on access to health insurance," she said.
Rep. Dianne Primavera, a Broomfield Democrat and breast cancer survivor, is sponsoring a bill before the Colorado Legislature to expand the program's eligibility rules and cover the cost of care for more Colorado women.
Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/ci_14833876#ixzz0kVQiIPYR
