First thing I thought when I heard this new report was “wow… it’s started already”. This is just in time for the national health care Obama’s administration is pushing on us and how better to show health care costs have decreased than to recommend that women don’t get a mammogram for an additional 10 years and then only every other year after that. 

Lets see… that’s about $125 a year x 9 years which comes out to $1,125 not spent between 40-49 years of age. Then at age 50 they recommend every other year instead of yearly after that which is about $1125 for those 18 years (50-69). So instead of spending $3,750 per woman, it would be about $1,250 with a supposed savings of $2,500 per woman.

I’m so glad that Obama’s new national health care takes my health and welfare into account. Obama cares little for Americans and apparently even less for American women. This government task force and Obama will hold the blame for the women who die because they waited until the age of 50 rather than 40 to be screened. There are several documented cases where women were able to find, fight and defeat breast cancer due to early detection either through self examination or mammography. 

So let me ask you this… is it worth the supposed $2,500 in health care savings if a woman loses her life do a lack of early detection? I was under the impression that every life is priceless.

New Breast Cancer Guidelines (broken link)

For years, doctors basically advised adult women to receive regular mammograms. Simple logic. Identify a problem early, cure it early.

Now a task force has contradicted the American Cancer Society’s guidelines that women get a base mammogram by the age of 40, and perhaps earlier for women whose family history of cancer elevates their cancer risk. The task force wants women to start getting mammograms at the age of 50 and repeating the test every two years.

Breast Cancer Screening: The Wrong Message (broken link)

According to the data USPSTF collected, screening reduces the breast cancer death rate by 15%. In other words, one cancer death is prevented for every 1,904 women aged 40 to 49 who are screened for 10 years. This might not sound like much on paper, but what if you’re that one woman whose life is spared? What if that one woman is your wife, your mother or your daughter?

Obama’s Breast Cancer Panel is a true ‘Death Panel’ for American women (broken link)

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force released recommendations yesterday that completely change the way women will be treated for breast cancer prevention.  Their recommendations are as follows:  The USPSTF panel…

“..recommends against routine screening mammography in women aged 40 to 49 years. The decision to start regular, biennial screening mammography before the age of 50 years should be an individual one and take patient context into account, including the patient’s values regarding specific benefits and harms.”

[…]

Women of all ages get breast cancer.  Ask any woman you know and they are sure to say that the benefits of getting ‘too many mammograms’ over the years far, far outweigh the risks of getting breast cancer.  The recommendations by this panel are for primary care physicians across the country.  These recommendations will also be taken into account by the insurance industry.  When a government agency tells the insurance industry it is no longer recommending people get particular services, odds are many companies will jump on the bandwagon and only provide them according to the government recommendations, including any government run insurance.

Even the American Cancer Society has come out against this report:
“The USPSTF says that screening 1,339 women in their 50s to save one life makes screening worthwhile in that age group. Yet USPSTF also says screening 1,904 women ages 40 to 49 in order to save one life is not worthwhile. The American Cancer Society feels that in both cases, the lifesaving benefits of screening outweigh any potential harms. Surveys of women show that they are aware of these limitations, and also place high value on detecting breast cancer early.”

Why has this recommendation come about now?  Could it have anything to do with the public option that is now on the table and this is a pre-cursor to the rationing that will most definitely ensue as a result of that public option?  Why would this panel make these recommendations now after so many years?  If you take a look at who the panel is made up of you will see not one breast cancer expert and interestingly these recommendations are very similar to the guidelines that are currently in place in Canada.  Obama owns this report.  These recommendations are coming under HIS Administration.  Obama’s Breast Cancer Panel is truly a ‘Death Panel’ for American women.

Additional Video: Breast Cancer Survivors ‘Outraged’ By New Study (broken link)

Yes… I am a little upset at this. To drill into our brains for years and years that we need mammograms at the age of 40 and then just “take it back” in one report… it’s complete stupidity. The problem with this is that insurance companies will make their guidelines match those of this report. What does that mean for women in America? Well, that means if they want a mammogram at the age of 48 and they aren’t considered high-risk, they are out of luck when it comes to insurance coverage. What will that in turn mean? Many of them won’t get it done because the government has grabbed us from behind once more and screwed the average American by taking more and more of her hard earned money that she CAN’T AFFORD TO GET A MAMMOGRAM! And when she dies from breast cancer that will be one less person on Social Security. Hmmm… can you smell that… that’s government health care?