Healthcare for women gets Senate backing

Mammogram

Yesterday saw the Senate vote to require health insurance companies to provide free mammograms and other preventive services to women. In effect, the vote will override new recommendations from a federal advisory panel that said routine mammograms should begin at age 50, rather than 40.

Its an interesting move by the Senate, given that reports from yesterday had revealed how mammograms were exposing women that are more likely to develop cancers from genetic mutations and family histories to greater risk  because of excessive radiation.

However, these new measures are simply meant to eliminate one of the major barriers in access to patient care, say experts. In fact, Senator Barbara A. Mikulski, Democrat of Maryland, who proposed the coverage requirement as an amendment to sweeping health legislation, told the LA Times that the measures could save millions of lives.

"This amendment does not tell women, 'You will have a mammogram at 40.' It simply says that, 'You will have access to that mammogram if you and your doctor decide it's medically necessary or medically appropriate'."

Logjam

Experts say that yesterday's vote marks a significant step in how to handle the first amendments to the US healthcare bill. Cynics had been complaining that these amendments had started to resemble something of a logjam, and have now praised yesterday's move.

However, reports also reveal how Senate Democrats face a long road ahead if they are to overcome further issues pertaining to healthcare reform. One of the biggest issues seems to be the fact that they are actually struggling to reach agreement among themselves on a few major issues, not least the creation of a government insurance plan that is feasible enough to compete against private healthcare insurance.

There are concerns that the ensuing debate could last for weeks.

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