President Obama Does NOT Oppose Mammograms

This writeup regards breast cancer, mammograms, and the "government panel" that recommended raising the mammogram test age to 50 instead of 40. We also will explore how President Obama unfairly is being held responsible in the mammogram controversy, as opponents of extending health care are manipulating the issue.

Associated Content's Dr. Jamie Y. Marable is not a medical doctor (and she doesn't try to play one on TV or on AC, lol) but her writeup entitled Should You Still Schedule That Mammogram? is excellent. The second half of Jamie's headline is, "Ask a Breast Cancer Survivor Under the Age of 50." She explains that while there are pros and cons to mammograms at any age, the pros far outweigh the cons. Therefore, as she celebrates her 40th birthday, she won't be conned out of undergoing her first exam, even though she in great health (read her other articles on fitness and diet) and does not have a family history of breast cancer.

Hopefully, other women will feel the same as Dr. Marable regarding mammograms, and the recent political flareup will not deter them.

Some Republicans in Congress are stooping to the tactic of falsely asserting that President Obama wants to preclude mammograms for women in the age 40-to-49 group, as part of some huge government takeover of health care.

Republican Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona told the Associated Press, "This is how rationing starts. This is what we're going to expect in the future." Apparent Republican strategy is to raise doubts regarding Democrats' health care reform plans and the target audience is women, who as a group are more supportive than men of extending health care to lower-income working (non-Medicaid) families.

In truth, (1) the report in question, on raising the mammogram age to 50 instead of 40, has nothing to do with the proposed health care legislation, and (2) regardless, Democrats are rejecting the proposal.

For example, here's a quote from Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, one of President Obama's closest friends in Congress: "It's entirely possible that this panel got it wrong, and I think they did."

Democratic Sen. Max Baucus of Montana, Senate Finance Committee chairman and a moderate voice on health care reform, says his health care bill "doesn't do one single thing to change current law related to the way coverage decisions are made" for women ages 40-49 to receive mammograms. "Those decisions will be based only on science and thorough review, just as they are today. Research comparing the effectiveness of different treatments for different patients cannot be used for rationing care."

Furthermore, the main mammogram report comes from an advisory group, not from an arm of the Obama Administration. As Durbin makes clear, nobody is bound by anything in the report. In fact, it's not even a "government panel." Members are individuals who are in private practice in various areas of medicine. However, political foes are trying to falsely indicate that the older mammogram age is Obama's viewpoint, or Obama's proposal.

Advisory group members did not flat-out state that women under age 50 should not get mammograms. Here's an explanation from the vice-chairwoman, Dr. Diane Pettiti: "So, what does this mean if you are a woman in your 40s? You should talk to your doctor and make an informed decision about whether a mammography is right for you based on your family history, general health and personal values."

In anyone remains concerned, Democratic Sen. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland plans to reinforce the point with an amendment that would limit out-of-pocket mammogram costs for women ages 40 and older.

Is this clear enough? A final point should be that in virtually any community, women without financial means or good insurance may receive free-of-charge mammograms via various outreach programs.

It's a shame that politics gets in the way on topics such as this, when a woman's choice simply should boil down to the non-political words that Dr. Jamie Marable has written.

SOURCES

http://www.dailyjournalonline.com/articles/2009/11/23/news/doc4b073fd108712657663361.txt