A tale of two breast cancers

This article is the archived version of a report that appeared in the August 2009 Consumer Reports magazine.

Getting breast cancer at age 27 was certainly unfortunate for Jaclyn Michalos, but the fact that it was diagnosed just after Massachusetts changed its health-care system in 2007 turned out to be fortunate indeed. Michalos was working as a waitress in Randolph, Mass., and had no health policy. But the new law required everyone to have coverage, and those like Michalos who couldn't afford it could join the statewide Commonwealth Care plan. That plan eventually paid the $125,000 cost of her treatment. "If I hadn't had that insurance, I never would have made the doctor's appointment that turned up my cancer, and I might not be alive today," Michalos says.

Catherine Howard of San Francisco also had insurance when she learned she had breast cancer. But as a freelance film producer, she couldn't afford a good comprehensive policy. Instead she had chosen a plan with low premiums but a high $2,500 deductible and 30 percent copay. It promised to limit her out-of-pocket costs to $7,500 yearly. But that figure didn't include all charges. "I remember staring at the needle of one shot that cost $2,000 and thinking, ‘I owe $600 for this,'" says Howard, 36. She still owes $40,000 for her $160,000 of treatment.