Fewer Pennsylvanians Received Routine Cancer Screenings in 2001, Number of Uninsured Increased

Fewer people in Pennsylvania received routine cancer screenings, such as prostate exams and mammograms, last year than did in 2000, and the percentage of uninsured residents rose to the highest levels in a decade, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Philadelphia Health Management, which Dec. 11 released the new data, surveyed 10,000 households in a five-county area and found that fewer men in the Philadelphia region were screened for prostate and colon cancer and fewer women received Pap smears, clinical breast exams and mammograms. The survey also found that the number of people ages 18 to 64 without health insurance rose to 9%, the highest level in the last decade. Further, the survey found that 4% of children were uninsured. Nationwide, the number of uninsured was 41.2 million in 2001, up 1.4 million from a year earlier. "Access to care is bound to suffer overall in a climate where fewer people are getting health insurance coverage, or [there are] cutbacks in the richness in the benefits they have had," Bob Groves, executive director of the Health Promotion Council of Southeastern Pennsylvania, said, adding, "It is less likely people will be screened." According to Suzanne Miller, director of Fox Chase Cancer Center's Psychosocial and Behavioral Medicine program, people may be forgoing preventive screenings because of an overall increase in stress levels after the Sept. 11 attacks or they might be "overwhelmed" by "conflicting" information about the value of cancer screenings (Uhlman, Philadelphia Inquirer, 12/12).