Boy-band idol eclipses own message at Capitol Hill news conference
By Richard M. Todaro
WASHINGTON _ A teary-eyed Backstreet Boy, Kevin Richardson, came to Capitol
Hill to push for insurance coverage for colorectal cancer screening
Wednesday, saying his "life was changed" when his father died of colon
cancer in 1991.
But the presence of the boy-band superstar at the sunny outdoor news
conference eclipsed the message, as the dozen or so teen-age girls in
attendance swooned and closed in on him after the event.
"It's my birthday and I was wondering if, like, I could get my picture taken
with you?" one girl asked of pop idol Richardson, who had shaved his goatee
and was wearing his hair somewhat long and slicked back.
Richardson shook hands and posed for photographs with his fans, after
politely asking them to let others ask questions about colorectal cancer and
the bills introduced by Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and Reps. Connie
Morella, R-Md., and Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y.
"The last year I was here on these grounds was in 1989, my senior year in
high school," Richardson said when he was introduced.
"I never thought I'd be here on these grounds to speak on an issue so dear
to me." He pointed to American Cancer Society statistics indicating there is
a greater than 90 percent survival rate if colorectal cancer is detected
early, and said the bills seem "to me like a pretty simple deal. The facts
seem to speak for themselves."
The bills, both called the Eliminate Colorectal Cancer Act of 2001, would
require private health insurers to provide coverage for colorectal coverage
screening at regular intervals for all people over 50 and for anyone under
50 at high risk for the disease.
The American Cancer Society estimates that colorectal cancer deaths could be
cut in half with proper screening of people over 50.
It said colorectal cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer deaths in
the country, killing more than 56,700 men and women this year alone, and
that another 135,400 cases will be diagnosed this year.
But a spokesman for the Health Insurance Association of America said the
bills are unnecessary because such screening is already covered.
"Insurance companies provide payment for colorectal screening based upon
standards developed by the nation's leading medical organizations," said
spokesman Richard Coorsh.
"We think (colorectal cancer) is a significant problem and people ought to
take advantage of their insurance coverage so they can get screening." But
one of those "leading medical organizations," the American Society of Colon
and Rectal Surgeons, said that insurance companies are not providing
coverage for people without symptoms or inherited risk factors.
"They are not covering screening for routine, non-inherited, non-symptomatic
screening for colorectal cancer," said Dr. John M. MacKeigan, president of
the society.
"That just isn't happening." MacKeigan said there is "pretty clear evidence"
that only full colonoscopy conducted regularly can detect polyps and other
potentially cancerous growths in the digestive tract.
Genetics and, possibly, diet are the leading culprits in the onset of the
disease, he said.
But Richardson tried to direct attention to his new "Just Within Reach"
environmental foundation, whose initials were chosen to match those of his
late father, Jerald Wayne Richardson.
The foundation would focus on educating children about the importance of
protecting the natural environment, a cause Richardson feels deeply about
because of the link he sees between cancer and despoiled air and water.
"We want to raise money to put together educational videos for schools,"
said Richardson, who was engulfed by fans once the news conference was over.