New Cancer Program Will Help Women With No Health Insurance

By Pru Sowers

Konk Life Staff Writer

There is little arguably worse for a woman than being diagnosed with breast or cervical cancer. Unless you don’t have any health insurance to help save your life.

That devastating problem just got kicked to the curb for many women in Key West and Monroe County, thanks to a new screening program at Womankind and the Lower Keys Medical Center that was implemented on Feb. 29. Previously, Womankind, the 15-year old medical center providing family planning and primary health care to people of all income levels, was able to help pay the cost for an annual mammogram or pap smear for women without insurance. But if those tests turned up a lump or other medical problem, the cost of treating the disease had to be paid by the patient.

“The biggest problem we’ve had is there is no secondary care for breast and cervical cancer in the Keys if you don’t have [health] insurance. There’s care but only if you have money,” said Kim Romano, Womankind’s executive director. “A diagnostic mammogram can cost between $500 and $1,600. And some women need more than one.”

Enter the Breast & Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program, a federally-funded plan administered by the Florida Department of Health. It’s been up and running in Miami-Dade County since 1994 and made its way to Fisherman’s Community Hospital in Marathon last year. Romano and state program managers have been pushing to bring the program to the Lower Keys and were successful when the Lower Keys Medical Center (LKMC), Key West’s local hospital, signed the contract a week ago.

Local women aged 50-64 who do not have health insurance and fall into specific income levels may now be eligible for free clinical breast exams, mammograms, pelvic exams, pap smears, follow-up tests and treatment if the initial screenings turn up a problem. The only requirement is that the women be Monroe County residents and go to Womankind for an initial breast or pelvic screening test – previously diagnosed cancer cases are not eligible for the program. The maximum income levels are $23,540 for a single woman and $31,860 for a two-person household.

“We’re hoping we’re going to see people we haven’t seen before. We’re hoping this opens a door to people who have fallen through the cracks,” said Cali Roberts, Womankind’s Assistant Director.

In the past, women have been reluctant to see a doctor even for a routine breast or cervical screening because if a problem was detected, they had no money to pay for the treatment. Lenise Banwarie, the Breast & Cervical Center Early Detection Program Manager employed by the state health department, said treatment can now be provided by the LKMC or by Fisherman’s Community Hospital.

“We’re hoping the hospital [LKMC] offers surgeries. Right now, they don’t offer chemotherapy. We’re hoping patients could get chemotherapy through Fisherman’s,” Banwarie said.

Currently, Womankind diagnoses between one and five women a year with breast cancer. Cervical cancer is not as prevalent, with about one case a year turning up at the medical center. But the new free screening and treatment program will have an impact far beyond that, Romano said.

“What we’re going to be able to do is serve more than 200 women a year. Just last month we had two breast cancer diagnoses,” she said.

Womankind, a non-profit medical center that serves both women and men, provides service to approximately 2,500 patients each year. For more information, call Womankind at (305) 294-4004.

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