WASHINGTON — Joni Lownsdale never thought her 2002 breast-cancer diagnosis would land her in the Obama administration’s fight with the health insurance industry.
But that’s where the Rockford, Ill., woman was Friday as she stood in a White House flower garden and shared her story of being repeatedly denied health insurance because of the cancer in her past.
First lady Michelle Obama, who was marking Breast Cancer Awareness Month, said the U.S. has come a long way from the days when people thought breast cancer was something to be ashamed of.
More women are getting mammograms, the five-year survival rate is above 90 percent and research spending is at $900 million — 30 times the amount spent in 1982.
But 1 in 8 women will still be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime and 40,000 women a year still die from the disease, Obama said, and the current health care system doesn’t work for many women who are living with the cancer.
“It’s a system that only adds to the fear and stress that already comes with the disease,” the first lady said
At the end of her treatment, Lownsdale said her doctor said she had a 94 percent chance of remaining cancer-free. Then in 2005, her insurer notified her that her health care premiums would more than double.
She shopped around for new coverage and repeatedly was denied. She ended up with coverage through Illinois’ high- risk pool and pays $600 a month for her coverage alone.
Despite her good health, she said the diagnosis “left a target on my back.”
