Lack of insurance interferes with cervical cancer prevention, treatment

The Washington Post: Cervical Cancer Is Preventable, Yet Many Fail to Get Screened Regularly
In her early 20s, Tamika Felder skipped seeing her gynecologist and getting Pap smears for a few years because she couldn't afford health insurance. ... In 2001, at age 25, Felder learned that she had cervical cancer. She needed a hysterectomy, chemotherapy and radiation. And she was left unable to bear children. ... Each year, about 12,000 U.S. women receive diagnoses of cervical cancer and 4,000 women die of the disease. Yet doctors view cervical cancer as a disease that can easily be prevented and treated. ... The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cites disproportionate levels of cervical cancer among the uninsured and underinsured (Ungar, 5/2).

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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.