Cancer Insurance

Girls jumping rope chant "one less, one less," in TV commercials for the new cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil, vowing they will be one less cancer patient.

But in the real world, Gardasil is getting used less than doctors would like. Pediatricians and gynecologists from Arizona to New York are refusing to stock Gardasil because of its $360 price for the three doses required and "totally inadequate" reimbursement from most insurers.

Totally inadequate.

Uh-huh.

"I still don't have the shot and now I have to decide whether I want to make a $1,200 investment to get them vaccinated," she said. "I really don't want to deny them what I think is right."

So your daughter has a RIGHT to be vaccinated? What about parent responsibility? Isn't the health of your daughter WORTH $1200?

Dr. Michael Blum, senior partner in a big pediatric practice in suburban Kansas City, said it only provides Gardasil to patients who pay $450 up front, then tries to get insurance reimbursement for them. Only a half-dozen patients have done so.

Can't afford $450 to protect your daughter. Someone needs to get their priorities straight.