Here's some good news on the healthcare front—there's been a substantial increase in early detection of cervical cancer among young women under 26 in recent years, likely because in 2010 the Affordable Care Act began allowing them to stay on their parents’ insurance. Between 2010 and 2014, the number of women aged 19 to 25 who were uninsured dropped 13 points, from 34 percent to 21 percent. Sabrina Tavernise reports on the new study:
Researchers used the National Cancer Data Base, a hospital-based registry of about 70 percent of all cancer cases in the United States. They compared diagnoses for women ages 21 to 25 who had cervical cancer with those for women ages 26 to 34, before and after the health law provision began in 2010. Early-stage diagnoses rose substantially among the younger group — the one covered by the law — and stayed flat among the older group.
About 79 percent of the younger group had an early-stage diagnosis in 2011-12, up from about 71 percent in 2007-09. For the older group, the percentage dropped to 71 percent from 73 percent, a change that is not statistically meaningful.
Catching cervical cancer in its earliest stages greatly increases the chances of successful treatment and survival rates, along with improving the chances that a woman maintains her fertility.