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Summa receives dental center funding
Group recommends merging Akron, Summit County health agencies
Double hand transplant patient leaves Pennsylvania hospital
Glenmoor chef tightening belt with diet and fitness program
Autism risks detailed in children of older mothers
Study links autism, ages of both parents
Health bulletin board: Program provides free support to families of kids with special needs
GOP cool to Obama call for two-party health talks
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Man robbed at Tallmadge Avenue eatery
Another winter punch heading toward Ohio
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Cuyahoga Falls residents come home to find burning couch on balcony
Region makes way for latest batch of snow; cancellations rise
Blogs:
First Bell - On Education:
No City of Akron basketball tonight
Pets:
Pet telethon re-airs
The Heldenfiles:
Chipmunks "Squeakquel" on DVD/BD March 30
Akron Zips:
Late surge gives Zips ugly road win
Tribe Matters:
Blogmail response on Hafner
Cleveland Browns:
Stallworth's contract terminated
Balanced Ledger:
QB in Browns future: another mock draft
Kent State Sports:
KSU Notes – February 9
Cleveland Cavaliers:
NBA Power Rankings from Around the Internet
Buckeye Blogging:
Buckeyes grab 18 players on signing day
Varsity Letters:
Five local gridders to play in Big33
All Da King's Men:
Palin At The Tea Party Convention
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Republican Pre-Conditions
Akron Law Café:
Law, Love and Chocolate
Car Chase:
Collector Car Hobby Loses One of the Best—Jim Roll
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Decisions Decisions: Credit Cards or Your Mortgage?
Ohio Travels with Betty:
Loucile is looking for a Lake Erie getaway in June for three kids, ages 1, 3, and 5.
Sound Check:
Talk of the Town – Top entertainment picks for the weekend
HRLite House:
OFCCP Report
Akron Gamer:
Makers of 'Castle Crashers' unveil 'BattleBlock Theater'
See Jane Style:
Do IT this week: Layering
Study finds uninsured cancer patients more likely to die in 5 years than those with private coverage
By Mike Stobbe
Associated Press
Published on Thursday, Dec 20, 2007
ATLANTA: Uninsured cancer patients are nearly twice as likely to die within five years as those with private coverage, according to the first national study of its kind and one that sheds light on troubling medical care obstacles.
People without insurance are less likely to get recommended cancer screening tests, the study found, confirming earlier research. And when these patients finally do get diagnosed, their cancer is likely to have spread.
The new research, analyzing information from 1,500 U.S. hospitals that provide cancer care, is being published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.
The research, gathered by the American Cancer Society, offers context for the national discussion about health-care reform, experts say even though the uninsured are believed to account for just a fraction of U.S. cancer deaths. An Associated Press analysis suggests it is around 4 percent.
The findings didn't surprise those dealing with cancer and inadequate insurance.
''I would just like for something to be done to help someone else, so they don't have to go through what we went through,'' said Peggy Hicks, a Florida woman whose husband died in August from colon cancer.
Edward Hicks was uninsured, and a patchwork health-care system delayed him from getting chemotherapy that some argue might have extended his life.
''He was so ill. And you're trying to get him help, and you can't, you can't,'' said his 67-year-old widow.
Hard numbers linking insurance status and cancer deaths are scarce, in part because death certificates don't say whether those who died were insured.
An Associated Press estimate based on statistics on hospital cancer deaths in 2005 gathered by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality information and other data suggests at least 20,000 of the nation's 560,000 cancer deaths a year are of uninsured patients.
Experts said that estimate sounds reasonable. That's around 4 percent of the total cancer death toll.
One reason is that most fatal cancers occur in people 65 or older an age group covered by the federal Medicare program. Another is that more than 80 percent of adults younger than 65 have some form of coverage, such as private insurance or the Medicaid program for the poor, various estimates say.
ATLANTA: Uninsured cancer patients are nearly twice as likely to die within five years as those with private coverage, according to the first national study of its kind and one that sheds light on troubling medical care obstacles.
Get the full article here.
