Breast Cancer Patient To Wisconsin: Don't Cut Health Program For Low-Income Women
WASHINGTON -- "DS" was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer in 2010 and has been on chemotherapy ever since. Besides dealing with the grueling side effects of the treatment -- the vomiting, anxiety and nausea -- DS has also had to deal with the financial side of the sickness, often going to food pantries to get by and having to convince her employer not to lay her off while she misses time for her appointments.
Participating in the Wisconsin Well Woman Program has been one of the ways that DS said she has been able to get by. The program provides preventive health screening services to women with little or no health insurance coverage. It is funded by both the state and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and has been credited with providing more than 500,000 breast and cervical cancer screenings to more than 70,000 women.
But Wisconsin is in the midst of dramatically restructuring the program and cutting back on its services, attributing the move to the Affordable Care Act. And it's happening fast: Participants in the 20-year-old program were notified on Dec. 12 of the changes, which are set to take effect on July 1. For participants like DS, the move is deeply troubling.
"It is a rough road and I am very concerned that if this program is discontinued or restructured quickly without considering the women it is impacting, that I will be out of luck," DS wrote in a letter to Karen McKeown, the state's public health administrator. The letter is signed only with the initials "DS," and was provided to The Huffington Post by Sara Finger, executive director of the Wisconsin Alliance for Women's Health, who received the letter from a local coordinator of WWWP.
More:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/18/wisconsin-well-woman_n_4981519.html?utm_hp_ref=politics
Her Letter:
March 4, 2014
Dear Karen Mckeown:
I am a participant in the Wisconsin Well Woman Medicaid Program. I am currently
undergoing treatment for metastatic breast cancer for which there is no cure.
I am writing to you as I am very concerned about the future of the Wisconsin Well
Woman Program. I would also like to express how this remarkable program has had an
unbelievable impact on my life.
There are many ways the Wisconsin Well Woman Program touch’s women’s lives. When
a woman is hit with a breast cancer diagnosis it is a hard pill to swallow, a million
thoughts go thru your head, “am I going to die?” “what about my children?” “how will I
survive”? These are some of the thoughts women think about as they are diagnosed.
These thoughts are scary, gut wrenching and worrisome. The same feelings occur when a woman discovers a suspicious lump and the women are underinsured or uninsured and
may lack the ability or knowledge on how to be able to get screened or get an initial
mammogram. Women in this situation are very vulnerable and many do not know where
to turn.
Snip:
For 20 years the WWWP has screened women, saved lives and valued the unique
qualities of each woman’s life it has touched. Making drastic cuts would cause an
immense amount of stress on the compromised participants the program serves. It would also signify that the State of Wisconsin does not care about the health care needs of the women of Wisconsin.
Sincerely,
DS
More:http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/dsdsdsds040414.pdf
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