Women no longer are left without help if free screening shows they have breast or cervical cancer and they don't have money or insurance for treatment. State-funded treatment
services help women
without insuranceThe program fills a gap for
those who cannot afford treatmentBy Helen Altonn
haltonn@starbulletin.comState-funded treatment services are available for those who fall into a gap group, unable to qualify for state QUEST health coverage or federally funded treatment or who have inadequate health insurance.
Dr. Paul Morris, University of Hawaii medical school professor and cancer committee chairman at the Queen's Medical Center, and his wife, Catherine, an American Cancer Society volunteer, were major forces behind a coalition of organizations that pushed for the legislation last year.
Congress provided funding for breast and cervical cancer screening in 1990, but nothing for treatment. Thus, many patients diagnosed with cancer through the screening program had to pay the costs themselves or go without treatment until they could get Medicare.
A federally funded program to treat women diagnosed in the screening program was approved by Congress two years ago. But many Hawaii women, including resident aliens, didn't qualify for that program.
Paul Morris, who works in a breast cancer clinic, said, "The hardest part of the job is to look at a person and say, 'You have breast cancer.'"
Even worse, he said, is to say, "You don't have insurance so we can't help you out. That's a crime."
Many groups joined the couple in support of a state law to remedy the situation. Among them were the women's legislative coalition, state health and human services departments, American Cancer Society and Hawaii Society of Clinical Oncology, which Paul Morris heads.
Catherine Morris is chair of the Hawaii Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Fund coalition.
"We wanted to make sure whoever isn't covered by the federal legislation, we want to cover," he said.
To qualify, women must be 50 to 64 years old, have little or no medical insurance and meet income guidelines.
Nine women would have qualified for state-funded cancer treatment two years ago, Paul Morris said. One has been diagnosed and treated in the gap group since the law was passed.
That may not seem like a lot, but it is if it's your wife, sister or another loved one, he said.
Free screening clinics are located on all islands. For more information, call the state Health Department's Cancer Prevention and Control Section, 692-7460.
State Health Department
