Via KELO:
Every year 25 women in South Dakota are diagnosed with cervical cancer and sadly each year nine lose their battle. Just two years ago, the state began vaccinating girls between the ages of 11 and 18 for free. Last year, the state modified it so that only 12-year old girls could get it free of charge.
…
Out of pocket, the vaccine costs about $130 per dose and it takes three for it to be effective.“Most insurance plans cover childhood immunizations, but they don’t cover this. Or if they do cover it, it’s applied to their deductible,” (Dr. Maria)Bell said.
…Eliminating the funding would have freed up nearly $300,000 for the state’s budget. But Bell says it’s hard to put a price on preventing cancer, one that’s tied to the sexually transmitted disease HPV.
UGH. So tired of girls’/women’s health taking the brunt. Only 12 year olds? What if they miss the memo (or lack thereof)?! This vaccine is something that can literally save womens’ lives, and its access was cut to 1/8 of its initial impact.
I do give Rounds props for passing legislation back in 2007 to provide it to girls 11-18 for free. But as far as KELO suggesting that Rounds did girls some big favor by giving up a $300k, please. That’s whopping 0.4% of the whole 2010 SD Health Budget.
Thank goodness Dr. Bell’s was included in this story. As always, she reminds the world that womens’ health is important and we should treat it as such.
Obama to the rescue! KELO updated the story to say stimulus money will actually fill the gap. The KELO story up now reads a bit confusingly, because KELO originally reported last night Rounds was cutting it, then reworded the report today to correct the error without saying they’d made an error.
But it is worth remembering that women’s health was considered less of a priority than funding for things like the Ellsworth economic development authority (i.e., lobbying for federal pork) and the State Fair subsidy. Grrr.