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Tuesday • OcTOber 8 • 2013
Early breast cancer detection works, if women know options Uninsured people have resources they may not realize
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Health care groups cite KanCare problems ———
State officials say issues are simply part of transition and are being addressed By Scott Rothschild srothschild@ljworld.com
By Giles Bruce gbruce@ljworld.com
LecompTon — Roxanne Laughlin was getting a tooth pulled at the dentist when she got even more painful news: She had cancer. During the visit, her dentist discovered a cancerous ulcer on her tongue. She had to quit smoking, ASAP. For help in doing so, the dentist referred Laughlin, who doesn’t have health insurance, to a Douglas County safety-net clinic. “He said if I didn’t quit smoking, it would kill me,” she said of her dentist, Stephen Vincent, whom she calls her “guardian angel.” “He was the reason I went to Health Care Access.” A routine physical at the clinic additionally revealed a mass in her left breast. A mammogram later, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Cancer has recently upended Laughlin’s life, killing her husband last year and now threatening her own well-being. While she had surgeries to remove the ulcer from her mouth and the mass from her breast, her treatment isn’t over. Laughlin, 58, of Lecompton, starts chemotherapy on Thursday and radiation a Please see CAnCEr, page 2A
Topeka — A long line of health care providers on Friday appeared before a legislative committee to complain about problems under KanCare, the privately run managedcare program that serves nearly 400,000 Kansans. Hospitals across the state have complained about delays in payments and unwarranted claim denials from the three private insurance companies that run the program. And prior authorization requireThere has been a ments for treatments have huge administrative in some cases price to pay with the created significant delays in new systems. These patient care, are dollars and rehealth groups sources not being have said. used for patient care, State officials and represen- not going into the tatives of the quality of care for our companies said residents.” many of the concerns are being addressed — Cindy Luxem, CEO of Kansas and that some Health Care Association problems were inevitable in the transition to KanCare, which is administered by Amerigroup Kansas Inc., Sunflower State Health Plan and United Healthcare Community Plan of Kansas. “Claims are being overpaid, underpaid and in some areas, not being paid at all,” Tom Bell, president and chief executive officer of the Kansas Hospital Association, told members of the House-Senate oversight committee on KanCare, which held its first meeting. Lawrence Memorial Hospital, however, has reported not running into similar problems with KanCare. Cindy Luxem, chief executive officer of
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nick Krug/Journal-World Photo
In late June, lecompton resIdent roxanne laughlIn was diagnosed with breast cancer. Despite the fact that she did not have health insurance, Laughlin said she was going to do whatever she had to do to get the treatments she needed. Laughlin sought help through Health Care Access, which guided her through the application process for getting help. She has had two surgeries since being diagnosed and begins her first round of chemotherapy on Thursday.
Please see KAnCArE, page 8A
Procedure helps patients become moms
Inside l Doctor specializes in reconstructive surgery that preserves strength. Page 3A l Women with cancer embrace options to save their lives. Page 5A l Dream home inspires woman to keep fighting. Page 5A l Breast cancerrelated events. Page 12A
By Ben Unglesbee bunglesbee@ljworld.com
It’s one of the cruelest paradoxes of some cancer treatments: Drugs and radiation capable of killing cancer cells and saving lives kill healthy cells as well. For younger women with breast and other cancers, having their lives saved by chemotherapy or radiation can destroy the eggs inside their ovaries, which means losing their fertility. One common solution
Business Classified Comics Deaths
Low: 47
Today’s forecast, page 12A
Until last year freezing eggs was considered an experimental treatment. An October 2012 report from the American Society of Reproductive Medicine, which stated that the procedure had been shown to produce healthy babies, helped clear the way for egg freezing to enter the mainstream. Women who choose the treatment must take expensive fertility medications Please see FrEEzing, page 2A
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Pleasant
High: 78
available to women has been to freeze embryos, which can then be implanted in women after they’ve undergone treatment. But preserving embryos creates a labyrinth of dicey personal and ethical issues for women who are either without a long-term partner or have religious or moral qualms with the process of freezing embryos. Now another option, freezing the egg itself, is becoming more widely available to women.
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Why is the paper pink? The Journal-World is printed on pink newsprint today to show support for breast cancer patients, survivors and research. According to the American Cancer Society, one in eight American women will suffer from breast cancer in her lifetime. We’re pink today and featuring several stories about breast cancer to raise awareness about the disease. In addition, 20 percent of the JournalWorld’s display advertising revenue today will be donated to the Lawrence Memorial Hospital Endowment Fund to support cancer initiatives.
Credit union complaint An official at the Jayhawk Federal Credit Union in Lawrence says the credit union is open for business, but some customers are having trouble accessing their accounts. Page 3A
Vol.155/No.281 24 pages