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Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Elizabeth Edwards Breasts - The Spirit of the WomanA great essay on breast cancer survivorship and courage..
Tree
I am no longer afraid of mirrors
where I see the sign of the amazon,
the one who shoots arrows.
There
was a fine red line across my chest
where a knife entered,
but now a branch winds about the scar
and travels from
arm to heart.
Green leaves cover the branch,
grapes hang there and a bird appears.
What grows in me now is vital
and
does not cause me harm.
I think the bird is singing.
I have relinquished some of the scars.
I have designed my chest
with the care
given to an illuminated manuscript.
I am no longer ashamed to make love.
Love is a battle I can win.
I
have the body of a warrior
who does not kill or wound.
On the book of my body,
I have permanently inscribed a tree.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
DDT Exposure in Young Women Increases Breast Cancer RiskDDT and Breast Cancer in Young Women: New Data on the Significance of Age at Exposure
Barbara A. Cohn, Mary S. Wolff,
Piera M. Cirillo, Robert I. Sholtz
Abstract
Background: Prior studies of DDT and breast cancer assessed exposure
later in life when the breast may not
have been vulnerable, after most DDT had been eliminated, and after DDT had been
banned.
Objectives: Investigate whether DDT exposure in young women during peak DDT use predicts breast cancer.
Methods:
We conducted a prospective, nested case-control study with a median time to diagnosis of 17 years using blood samples obtained
from young women from 1959-1967. Subjects were members of the Child Health and Development Studies, Oakland, California, who
provided blood samples 1 to 3 days after giving birth (mean age 26 years). Cases (n=129) developed breast cancer before age
50 years. Controls (n=129) were matched to cases on birth year. Serum was assayed for p,p'-DDT, the active ingredient of DDT,
o,p'-DDT a low concentration contaminant, and p,p'-DDE, the most abundant p,p'-DDT metabolite.
Results: High levels
of serum p,p'-DDT predicted a statistically significant five-fold increased risk of breast cancer among women who were born
after 1931. These women were under age 14 in 1945, when DDT came into widespread use and mostly under age 20 as DDT use peaked.
Women who were not exposed to p,p'-DDT before age 14 showed no association between p,p'-DDT and breast cancer (p=0.02 for
difference by age).
Conclusions: Exposure to p,p'-DDT early in life may increase breast cancer risk. Many U.S. women
heavily exposed to DDT in childhood have not yet reached age 50. The public health significance of DDT exposure in early life
may be large.
26 jul 07 @ 1:36 pm
Monday, July 23, 2007
Is Herceptin Therapy Cost Effective? Study Says "Yes"We must still ask the question, however, of how cost effective it is for uninsured women who must pay out of pocket for Herceptin....
Original
Article
Cost-effectiveness analysis of trastuzumab in the adjuvant setting for treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer
Louis
P. Garrison Jr, PhD 1 *, Deborah Lubeck, PhD 2, Deepa Lalla, BPharm, PhD 2, Virginia Paton, PharmD 2, Amylou Dueck, PhD 3,
Edith A. Perez, MD 4
1Department of Pharmacy, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
2Genentech, Inc., South
San Francisco, California
3Department of Health Sciences Research, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota
4Department of
Hematology Oncology, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Florida
email: Louis P. Garrison (lgarrisn@u.washington.edu)
*Correspondence
to Louis P. Garrison Jr, Department of Pharmacy, University of Washington, Health Sciences Building, Seattle, WA 98195-7630
D.
P. Lubeck is an employee of and owns stock in Genentech. E. A. Perez receives research grant support from Genentech, Bristol,
Sanofi-Aventis, Novartis, Glaxo, Elli Lilly, Astra Zeneca, Pfizer, and Onyx, and has received honoraria for consulting from
Bristol, Genentech, and Glaxo in the last year. L. P. Garrison Jr has been a consultant to Genentech and Roche. D. Lalla is
an employee of and owns stock in Genentech. V. Paton is an employee of Genentech.
Fax: (206) 543-3835
Funded by:
Genentech and the University of Washington with unrestricted publication rights
Genentech and Mayo Clinic coauthors provided
raw data, reviewed the model and assumptions, and commented on article drafts
University of Washington carried out all
analyses and interpreted data and results independently
Abstract
BACKGROUND.
Adding trastuzumab to adjuvant
chemotherapy provides significant clinical benefit in patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive
breast cancer. A cost-effectiveness analysis was performed to assess clinical and economic implications of adding trastuzumab
to adjuvant chemotherapy, based upon joint analysis of NSABP B-31 and NCCTG N9831 trials.
METHODS.
A Markov model
with 4 health states was used to estimate the cost utility for a 50-year-old woman on the basis of trial results through 4
years and estimates of long-term recurrence and death based on a meta-analysis of trials. From 6 years onward, rates of recurrence
and death were assumed to be the same in both trastuzumab and chemotherapy-only arms. Incremental costs were estimated for
diagnostic and treatment-related costs. Analyses were from payer and societal perspectives, and these analyses were projected
to lifetime and 20-year horizons.
RESULTS.
Over a lifetime, the projected cost of trastuzumab per quality-adjusted
life year (QALY; discount rate 3%) gained was $26,417 (range, $9104-$69,340 under multiway sensitivity analysis). Discounted
incremental lifetime cost was $44,923, and projected life expectancy was 3 years longer for patients who received trastuzumab
(19.4 years vs 16.4 years). During a 20-year horizon, the projected cost of adding trastuzumab to chemotherapy was $34,201
per QALY gained. Key cost-effectiveness drivers were discount rate, trastuzumab price, and probability of metastasis. The
cost-effectiveness result was robust to sensitivity analysis.
CONCLUSIONS.
Trastuzumab for adjuvant treatment of
early stage breast cancer was projected to be cost effective over a lifetime horizon, achieving a cost-effectiveness ratio
below that of many widely accepted oncology treatments. Cancer 2007. © 2007 American Cancer Society.
23 jul 07 @ 8:57 am
Friday, July 20, 2007
Coaching Patients Improves Doctor VisitsA recent systematic review of 33 studies by the Cochrane Collaboration shows that coaching patients on how to ask questions
and get information before a doctor visit resulted in a small, but significant increase in patient satisfaction and reduction
in anxiety as well as longer duration of office visits. Interventions done some time before the appointment had no
effect. Patients benefited from both personal coaching as well as written materials. The study includes patients with
a wide variety of health issues, so perhaps closer analysis of benefits to cancer patients would be helpful. Below
is the abstract from the Cochrane study and link to references: BACKGROUND: Patients often do not get the information
they require from doctors and nurses. To address this problem, interventions directed at patients to help them gather information
in their healthcare consultations have been proposed and tested. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effects on patients, clinicians
and the healthcare system of interventions which are delivered before consultations, and which have been designed to help
patients (and/or their representatives) address their information needs within consultations. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched:
the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL, The Cochrane Library (issue 3 2006); MEDLINE (1966 to September
2006); EMBASE (1980 to September 2006); PsycINFO (1985 to September 2006); and other databases, with no language restriction.
We also searched reference lists of articles and related reviews, and handsearched Patient Education and Counseling (1986
to September 2006). SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised controlled trials of interventions before consultations designed
to encourage question asking and information gathering by the patient. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two researchers assessed
the search output independently to identify potentially-relevant studies, selected studies for inclusion, and extracted data.
We conducted a narrative synthesis of the included trials, and meta-analyses of five outcomes. MAIN RESULTS: We identified
33 randomised controlled trials, from 6 countries and in a range of settings. A total of 8244 patients was randomised and
entered into studies. The most common interventions were question checklists and patient coaching. Most interventions were
delivered immediately before the consultations.Commonly-occurring outcomes were: question asking, patient participation, patient
anxiety, knowledge, satisfaction and consultation length. A minority of studies showed positive effects for these outcomes.
Meta-analyses, however, showed small and statistically significant increases for question asking (standardised mean difference
(SMD) 0.27 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.19 to 0.36)) and patient satisfaction (SMD 0.09 (95% CI 0.03 to 0.16)). There was
a notable but not statistically significant decrease in patient anxiety before consultations (weighted mean difference (WMD)
-1.56 (95% CI -7.10 to 3.97)). There were small and not statistically significant changes in patient anxiety after consultations
(reduced) (SMD -0.08 (95%CI -0.22 to 0.06)), patient knowledge (reduced) (SMD -0.34 (95% CI -0.94 to 0.25)), and consultation
length (increased) (SMD 0.10 (95% CI -0.05 to 0.25)). Further analyses showed that both coaching and written materials produced
similar effects on question asking but that coaching produced a smaller increase in consultation length and a larger increase
in patient satisfaction.Interventions immediately before consultations led to a small and statistically significant increase
in consultation length, whereas those implemented some time before the consultation had no effect. Both interventions immediately
before the consultation and those some time before it led to small increases in patient satisfaction, but this was only statistically
significant for those immediately before the consultation. There appear to be no clear benefits from clinician training in
addition to patient interventions, although the evidence is limited. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Interventions before consultations
designed to help patients address their information needs within consultations produce limited benefits to patients. Further
research could explore whether the quality of questions is increased, whether anxiety before consultations is reduced, the
effects on other outcomes and the impact of training and the timing of interventions. More studies need to consider the timing
of interventions and possibly the type of training provided to clinicians. PLAIN LANGUAGE SUMMARY: Interventions before
healthcare consultations for helping patients get the information they requirePatients often report that they want more information
from their healthcare providers or that the information they do receive does not address their needs. Generally, the amount
of information given is small. People have differing needs for information, which also varies with the specific illness, but
providing information is important as it helps patients recall, understand and follow treatment advice and be more satisfied.
Clinicians may underestimate or undervalue the information needs of patients. They may also lack the skills to give information
effectively. Training doctors and nurses probably helps, but another approach is to try to directly help patients ask questions
in their consultations. This can be done by various methods such as question prompt sheets (which encourage patients to write
down their questions) or coaching (when someone helps the patient to think of the questions they want to ask). This review
evaluated studies of these types of interventions.We identified 33 randomised controlled trials involving 8244 patients from
six countries, mainly the USA, in a range of clinical settings. Most interventions, which included written materials (for
example, question prompt sheets) and coaching sessions, were delivered in the waiting room immediately before the consultation.
They were compared to dummy interventions or usual care. Health issues included primary care and family medicine, cancer,
diabetes, heart problems, women's issues, peptic ulcer and mental illness.We found small increases in question asking and
patient satisfaction and a possible reduction in patient anxiety before and after consultations. We also found a possible
reduction in patient knowledge and a possible small increase in consultation length. Both coaching and written materials produced
similar effects on asking questions but coaching had a larger benefit in terms of patient satisfaction. Interventions immediately
before the consultation led to a small increase in patient satisfaction whereas giving the intervention some time before did
not. Interventions immediately before the consultation also resulted in small increases in consultation length, particularly
when using written materials rather than coaching. Interventions some time before the consultation did not alter consultation
time.The interventions seem to help patients ask more questions in consultations, but do not have other clear benefits. Doctors
and nurses need to continue to try to help their patients ask questions in consultations and question prompt sheets or coaching
may help in some circumstances. Link here
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
New Danish Study: Fertility Drugs & Breast Cancer Risk Study shows no strong association between use of fertility drugs and breast cancer risk depending on type of drug used and
nulliparity. My only question, and it may not be relevant, is whether the study took into account the dosage for fertility
treatments.
Abstract: Risk of Breast Cancer After Exposure to Fertility Drugs: Results from a Large Danish Cohort Study
Allan
Jensen1, Heidi Sharif1, Edith I. Svare1, Kirsten Frederiksen1 and Susanne Krüger Kjær1,2
1 Danish Cancer Society, Institute
of Cancer Epidemiology and 2 The Juliane Marie Center, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen O, Denmark
Background:
Few epidemiologic studies have examined the association between fertility drugs and breast cancer risk, and results have been
contradicting. Using data from the largest cohort of infertile women to date, the aim of this study was to examine the effects
of fertility drugs on breast cancer risk overall and according to histologic subtypes.
Method: A cohort of 54,362 women
with infertility problems referred to all Danish fertility clinics between 1963 and 1998 was established. A detailed data
collection, including information of type and amount of treatment, was conducted. We used case-cohort techniques to calculate
rate ratios (RR) of breast cancer associated with use of five groups of fertility drugs, after adjustment for parity status.
Results:
Three hundred thirty-one invasive breast cancers were identified in the cohort during follow-up through 1998. Analyses within
cohort showed no overall increased breast cancer risk after use of gonadotrophins, clomiphene, human chorionic gonadotrophin,
or gonadotrophin-releasing hormone, whereas use of progesterone increased breast cancer risk (RR, 3.36; 95% confidence interval,
1.3-8.6). For all groups of fertility drugs, no relationships with number of cycles of use or years since first use of fertility
drug were found. However, gonadotrophins may have a stronger effect on breast cancer risk among nulliparous women (RR, 1.69;
95% confidence interval, 1.03-2.77). Similar risk patterns were present for ductal, lobular, and tumors of other histologies,
indicating identical etiologies.
Conclusion: The results showed no strong association between breast cancer risk and
use of fertility drugs. Follow-up is, however, needed to assess long-term breast cancer risk after use of progesterone and
among nulliparous women exposed to gonadotrophins. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2007;16(7):1400–7)
http://cebp.aacrjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/16/7/1400
18 jul 07 @ 10:59 am
Low Fat, High Produce Diet Doesn't Reduce Breast Cancer RecurrenceThis appears to be a well designed study with some important information. While we know what doesn't help, it gives us an
incentive to advocate for a shift in focus on research to other means of reducing breast cancer recurrence and incidence....
TUESDAY,
July 17 (HealthDay News) -- While a healthy diet remains a mainstay of cancer prevention, eating more than the recommended
amounts of fruits, vegetables and fiber won't give you added protection against breast cancer, new research suggests.
This
study of breast cancer survivors found no statistically significant benefit in terms of being diagnosed with breast cancer
again for women who followed a diet that encouraged eating at least eight servings of vegetables and fruits, at least 30 grams
of fiber, and no more than 15 percent to 20 percent of fat.
"Clearly, there's a threshold for prevention. You
don't have to go overboard. The national guidelines are good enough," said study author John Pierce, director of cancer
prevention at the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego.
Results of the study are in the
July 18 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Breast cancer accounts for about one in three of
all cancers diagnosed in women, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS). More than 200,000 women are diagnosed with
breast cancer in the United States each year, and more than 40,000 American women die from breast cancer annually, according
to the ACS.
Many previous studies have suggested that a diet full of fruits, vegetables and fiber, but low in fat,
can reduce the risk of certain cancers. To assess whether or not improving the diet over and above what's already recommended
could provide a more significant benefit, Pierce and his colleagues recruited more than 3,000 women who'd already been diagnosed
with and treated for early-stage breast cancer.
The women were between the ages of 18 and 70 and had no evidence of
recurrent breast cancer at the start of the study.
The volunteers were randomly assigned to one of two groups. The
intervention group included 1,537 women who were given telephone counseling along with cooking classes and newsletters that
recommended five servings of vegetables, one serving of vegetable juice, three servings of fruit, at least 30 grams of fiber
and no more than 15 percent to 20 percent of daily calories from fat. A comparison group included 1,551 women who were given
printed materials that recommended the current national guidelines of five servings of fruits and vegetables a day.
"These
were healthy breast cancer survivors who were already eating at least five servings of fruits and vegetables. We wanted to
know what happened when you really ramped that up. Some women ate 12 or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day,"
Pierce said.
Throughout the study, the women were periodically asked to recall their diet in the past 24 hours. The
researchers also checked for changes in certain substances in the blood that indicate fruit and vegetable intake. The average
follow-up time was 7.3 years.
After four years, the researchers found that vegetable intake had increased in the intervention
group by 65 percent, while fruit consumption was up by 25 percent. Fiber intake was also increased, by as much as 30 percent,
and fat intake was down 13 percent.
Yet, during the study period, there were no statistically significant differences
in the rates of breast cancer recurrence. During the study period, 16.7 percent of women in the intervention group vs. 16.9
percent of women in the comparison group received a diagnosis of invasive breast cancer.
There were also no statistically
significant differences in mortality. In the intervention group, 10.1 percent of the women died compared to 10.3 percent in
the comparison group.
Does that mean eating well won't help prevent cancer from returning?
"For women with
breast cancer, the answer is out on whether or not there's a single constituent in the diet that will help. But, for overall
health, maintaining a healthy weight and eating a healthy diet is always good," said the co-author of an accompanying
editorial, Susan Gapstur, associate director of cancer prevention and control for the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer
Center at Northwestern University in Chicago.
Gapstur pointed out that the women in the study weren't able to meet
the suggested reduction in fat intake. Additionally, she said that there appeared to be some discrepancy in the number of
calories consumed. By the end of the study, the average number of reported calories consumed in the intervention group was
180 less per day. Gapstur said that such a change would have resulted in weight loss instead of the slight increase that the
women experienced.
Rather than just one aspect of diet or lifestyle, Gapstur said she believes the next question researchers
have to answer is all of these factors as a whole. "We have to address the full spectrum -- diet, physical activity and
obesity," she said.
In the meantime, she said, "At the end of the day, it's never wrong or bad to eat healthfully."
Pierce
added that exercise patterns are also important and suggested that women exercise moderately for about 30 minutes a day.
18 jul 07 @ 10:45 am
LEADers Seeking Women With Scientific Advocacy SkillsSeeking women with scientific advocacy skills
The Cochrane Breast Cancer Group (CBCG) is a review group of the Cochrane
Collaboration based at The University of Sydney. They are committed to developing evidence relating to the prevention, early
detection and treatment of breast
cancer.
Currently, they are seeking women with a personal experience of breast
cancer who would be interested in working with CBCG and contributing to the protocols and reviews they produce. Ideally, they
are looking for women who have participated in a scientific advocacy program, or those interested in learning about and contributing
to the production of evidence about health care interventions for breast cancer. This work is voluntary and conducted in your
own time without expectations with regard to the number of reviews you choose to provide feedback on. You choose each time
whether or not you would like to provide feedback/reviews for a study. Some level of comfort with computers is required because
email and word documents are the primary means of correspondence.
Having consumer input on all Cochrane reviews is
vital to ensuring that the content is appropriate for all stakeholders. If you or someone you know is possibly interested
in this opportunity, CBCG can provide some mentoring with experienced consumers as a learning tool.
Please look at
the breast cancer group website for more information about what they do
Link: http://www.ctc.usyd.edu.au/cochrane/index.html
The
Cochrane Consumer Network website also provides information for consumers wanting to get involved with The Cochrane Collaboration
Link: http://www.cochrane.org/consumers/sysrev.htm
If you would like to find out more (or know someone who
would), please contact Sharon Parker sparker@ctc.usyd.edu.au_ (mailto:sparker@ctc.usyd.edu.au) or by phone +61 (0) 2 95625006.
18 jul 07 @ 10:26 am
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Would You Like Fries With That?Taking Tykerb With A High Fat Meal Can Lower Your Prescription Costs
Exploiting interactions between food and drugs
could dramatically lower the rapidly rising costs of several anticancer drugs, and perhaps many other medications, two cancer-pharmacology
specialists suggest in a commentary in the July 16, 2007, issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
University of
Chicago oncologists Mark Ratain, MD, and Ezra Cohen, MD, call attention to the flip side of recent studies showing how certain
foods can alter absorption or delay breakdown of precisely targeted anti-cancer drugs.
Instead of seeing such studies
as highlighting a dosing problem, Ratain and Cohen argue that results like this one should point researchers toward a partial
solution, a novel way to decrease medication costs while increasing benefits from these effective but expensive drugs.
The
commentary was inspired by a study presented in June at the American Society for Clinical Oncology. Researchers from Dartmouth
showed that taking the breast cancer drug lapatinib (TYKERB) with food—instead of on an empty stomach as suggested on the
label—resulted in more of the drug being absorbed and available to treat the cancer.
Patients currently take five 250
mg lapatinib tablets on an empty stomach. The study found that taking the drug with a meal increased the bioavailability of
the drug by 167 percent. Taking the drug with a high-fat meal boosted levels by 325 percent.
"Simply by changing
the timing, taking this medication with a meal instead of on an empty stomach, we could potentially use 40 percent (or even
less) of the drug," said Ratain. "Since lapatinib costs about $2,900 a month, this could save each patient $1,740
or more a month."
Caution: Talk to your doctor first before making changes to your diet.
17 jul 07 @ 2:14 pm
FDA Approves First Lab Test To Detect Metastatic Breast CancerFrom the FDA web site:
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved the first molecular-based laboratory test
for detecting whether breast cancer has spread (metastasized) to nearby lymph nodes. The GeneSearch BLN Assay detects molecules
that are abundant in breast tissue but scarce in a normal lymph node.
The presence or absence of breast cancer cells
in underarm lymph nodes is a powerful predictor of whether the cancer has spread and is used to help decide appropriate therapy
for a woman with metastatic breast cancer.
Lymph nodes are part of the system that helps protect the body against infection.
The first lymph node that filters fluid from the breast is called the "sentinel node," because that is where breast
cancer cells are likely to spread first.
During a lumpectomy or mastectomy to remove a breast tumor, surgeons commonly
remove the sentinel node for examination under a microscope. Sometimes the sentinel node is examined immediately and if tumor
cells are found, additional lymph nodes are removed. A more extensive microscopic examination, requiring one to two days for
results, is almost always performed. If tumor cells are only found with the later microscopic examination, the patient may
require a second surgery to remove the remaining lymph nodes.
"The GeneSearch BLN Assay offers a new approach
to sentinel node testing," said Daniel Schultz, M.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health.
"Results of this rapid test are available while patients are on the operating table, providing a way for some women to
avoid a second operation."
In a clinical trial, the GeneSearch BLN Assay showed strong agreement with results
from extensive microscopic examination of the lymph nodes of 416 patients. The test accurately predicted that breast cancer
had spread nearly 88 percent of the time in women with metastasis. Patients without metastasis were identified accurately
94 percent of the time.
Most of the women were also studied to compare the BLN Assay with immediate microscopic examination
during surgery. The test gave fewer false negative results, but slightly more false positive results. A false negative test
result, when the cancer has actually spread, may delay the needed removal of additional lymph nodes. A false positive test,
indicating metastasis when there is none, may result in a more extensive surgery and puts the women at risk of unnecessary
lymphedema (swelling due to fluid build-up following lymph node removal) and other side effects.
http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2007/NEW01667.html
17 jul 07 @ 2:09 pm
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Gov Strickland & GOP Lawmakers Work On Separate Health Care ProposalsFrom Gongwer Report:
The Democratic administration and Republican legislators have separate plans to hold stakeholder
meetings on health care access, discussions that could yield divergent proposals on how to cover Ohio's uninsured adults.
The
recently passed biennial budget (HB 119) contains a $500,000 appropriation for planning, developing, and modeling the Ohio
Healthcare Exchange that Gov. Ted Strickland proposed during his gubernatorial campaign. Spokesman Keith Dailey said Tuesday
the governor plans to begin fleshing out his plan to offer uninsured Ohioans low-cost health insurance.
Meanwhile,
Rep. Jim Raussen (R-Cincinnati), chairman of the House Healthcare Access & Affordability Committee, solidified summer
dates for "field hearings" that will provide input for a health care reform package to be introduced in the fall,
he said.
"The reform package will look at wellness and prevention, information technology, and how to cover
more of the uninsured," he said.
Measures to increase access to health care would likely center on public/private
partnerships and incentives for small businesses to cover employees, Rep. Raussen explained.
Gov. Strickland's
proposal would create a free market exchange to make private health care plans available to the estimated 1.1 million uninsured
adult Ohioans through group purchasing, Mr. Dailey said.
In his "Turnaround Ohio" plan, Gov. Strickland
called for the state to partner with insurance companies and small businesses to create the Ohio Healthcare Exchange. It is
described as an attempt to use competition and "simplified coverage options" to make affordable health care available
at premiums as low as $150 per individual.
"The plan would be similar, in some respects, to Massachusetts'
plan with a key difference - it would be voluntary," he said, referring to that state's requirement that all residents
have insurance. The state subsidizes a range of inexpensive policies made available through private insurers.
Both
the governor and GOP lawmakers hope to work together on health care reform legislation. However, the GOP-led General Assembly
may be more hesitant to follow Massachusetts' lead on healthcare.
GOP bills will not involve "more government
expansion," Rep. Raussen said, expressing his preference for partnerships and other options.
The House Healthcare
Access Committee, which hasn't yet considered any bills, has been studying the state's healthcare situation in-depth since
the beginning of the legislative session, he said.
"We have a better understanding of Ohio's health care landscape
now," he said, noting that Ohio's rate of uninsured adults at 12.5% is considerably lower than the national average of
16%. However, higher rates of obesity and smoking present other areas of concern, he added.
Field hearings on healthcare
issues will be held in Cleveland on Jul. 30, Toledo on Jul. 31, Zanesville on Aug. 6, Springfield on Aug. 7, and Sharonville
on Aug. 8, according to Rep. Raussen's office. Specific times and locations will be announced when they are finalized.
In
addition to the appropriation to begin work on the Healthcare Exchange proposal, legislators approved two of Gov. Strickland's
health care priorities in the budget, Mr. Dailey said. They include several provisions expanding access to children and additional
support for the Healthy Ohio program that focuses on preventative treatment.
11 jul 07 @ 2:07 pm
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