Diacor News and Opinion

AARP Bulletin: "Two years after undergoing a double mastectomy and chemotherapy so severe she was hospitalized in intensive care for several weeks, breast cancer survivor Denise Hicks should be following what her doctors call 'the plan,'" which includes additional medications and treatments. But she can't. "Hicks has health insurance but already reached her coverage limits. So the CT scan that her oncologist 'strongly advised" months ago to check a possible recurrence remains undone. … She's also skipping recommended medications. … Hick's disquieting predicament is not unique. At least 2 million Americans—roughly one in six cancer survivors—decide to forgo at least some of their recommended follow-up medical care because of the cost, according to recent research" published in the medical journal Cancer (Kirchheimer, 8/27).

This article was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.