Some U.S. physicians aren't stocking the new vaccine to prevent cervical cancer because they said insurers won't pay enough for them to immunize patients.
"This is a national issue that is affecting lots of people," Dr. Benjamin Gitterman, president of the Washington chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, told The Washington Post. "It's a matter of cash flow."
Pediatricians told the newspaper that insurance companies willing to cover Gardasil vaccine will sometimes pay doctors $2 more than the $122 per shot cost to doctors, not enough to cover their costs.
"I have to pay for nursing time, supplies, syringes, alcohol pads, dropped doses and time to explain it," Poughkeepsie, N.Y., pediatrician Dr. Herschel R. Lessin told the newspaper. "And when insurance companies decide to pay me $122 per dose and take three months to pay, I can't afford to do it. For insurance companies that are paying me $140 or $150 a dose, I'll give it."
Otherwise, Lessin said he gives patients a prescription for Gardasil that they have filled at a pharmacy and bring back to his office to be administered. Other pediatricians also are using prescriptions to supply Gardasil, a system that can mean the patient gets no insurance coverage at all for the vaccine, the Post said.
The vaccine's availability was limited even in places like Washington, where it will soon be required for girls to attend school, the Post reported.
Copyright 2007 by United Press International
Related stories:
Socio-demographic factors influence costs of back pain
It is well-known that back pain belongs to the most frequent health problems in the industrial nations and, it is also well-known that it is the cause of considerable costs for health insurance schemes and the economy. In the period of just one year, 70 % of adult Germans suffer from back pain.
Study reveals rural, unmarried women at higher risk for depression
Mayo Clinic research suggests unmarried women living in rural areas have lower self-rated health status than their married counterparts. This lower health status often includes greater instances of self-assessed feelings of depression. The results of the study were recently published in the
Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice. They suggest that primary care physicians should take a proactive role in addressing health concerns of single women.
Bilateral cochlear implants: A case when 2 are definitely superior to 1
A study of cochlear implant patients seen by Indiana University School of Medicine physicians is the first research to show evidence that cochlear implants in both ears significantly improves quality of life in patients with profound hearing loss and that the cost of the second implant is offset by its benefits.
Tourists to the Caribbean should pay 1 dollar each to help fight tropical diseases of poverty
Away from the beaches, resorts, and cruise ships of the Caribbean, there lies a hidden underbelly of poverty and with this poverty comes endemic neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). In an editorial in this month's
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, the journal's Editor in Chief, Professor Peter Hotez (George Washington University and Sabin Vaccine Institute) proposes that a modest US $1.00 airline or cruise ship tax or a tax on tourist entry could provide a funding mechanism for the Caribbean countries to control these NTDs.
High Unemployment Insurance Benefits Employment and the Economy
Companies are willing to pay higher wages in order to ensure that workers remain committed and contribute their best efforts to maximize productivity levels, according to a study in the International Journal of Economic Theory published by Wiley-Blackwell. An increase in unemployment insurance, while implying higher wages, is nevertheless beneficial to long term economic activity.
Black men appear less likely to undergo elective aneurysm repair than white men
Black men are less likely than white men to undergo elective surgery to repair abdominal aortic aneurysms, even after accounting for racial differences in rates of developing the disease, according to a report in the May issue of
Archives of Surgery.
Professor studies what cars can learn from drivers' words
Years ago, Stanford communication and sociology researcher Clifford Nass wondered why some people treated their computers as humans, instead of machines, a question that led him down a path of interesting research. Now he wonders about drivers willing to have personal conversations with the artificial voice in their cars—and what will become of the secrets the humans share with their four-wheeled friends.
Lingering bacteria don't indicate chronic Lyme disease
The bacteria that cause Lyme disease, the most common tick-borne illness in the United States, can linger in mouse tissues long after a full round of antibiotic treatment is completed, report researchers from the University of California, Davis.