As Breast Cancer Awareness Month nears its end and the election looms, healthcare is top of people's minds. It became a focal point during Amy Coney Barrett's Supreme Court hearings as the Affordable Care Act waits for another day in court.
As the CEO of Susan G. Komen, Paula Schneider, a breast cancer survivor herself, told Cheddar's Opening Bell, "People need to care that their healthcare is one of the most important rights that they should have."
During the same interview, journalist Katie Couric, founder of Katie Couric Media, also called healthcare an essential right saying, "if you have a system that isn't open to people, it's just blatantly, terribly, un-American."
The National Cancer Institute estimates that as of January 2019, there are 16.9 million cancer survivors in the United States. This represents approximately 5 percent of the population, and that number of cancer survivors is projected to increase by nearly 30 percent, to nearly 22 million, by 2029.
Now amid the pandemic, people are delaying screening and routine care with a sharp drop in screenings and cancer diagnoses this year. According to a recent JAMA study, breast cancer diagnoses alone saw a 51.8 percent dip in March and April compared to previous years. According to Schneider, some reports show that drop being as large as 80 percent when it comes to breast cancer. "That doesn't mean it's not happening," she said. "It just means it's not being diagnosed, and therefore it's not being treated."
"Ladies get your mammograms."
As for Couric, she has faced the heartbreak of cancer within her own family. Her first husband Jay and her sister Emily both died following their battles with cancer. She said that one of the most important things a support system can do for a cancer patient is just to be there. "When Jay was sick he said having cancer is the loneliest experience in the world," Couric said.
That's part of the reason she partnered with pharmaceutical giant Merck for a new project called Your Cancer Story. The program provides information and support to cancer patients from diagnosis to treatment to survivorship. Couric said she wishes she had access to this kind of program for her own family years ago.
"You can see people talking about what they're going through. You can get advice. You can get guidance. You can get support," she explained. "Other survivors and other caregivers can talk about some of the things they wish they had known."
A new mobile app has launched just in time for Valentine's Day. Our.Love bills itself as an A.I.-powered, gamified, relationship wellness app for couples. The app is set in what the company calls the Coupleverse, a virtual world where each couple can build a virtual relationship home as they also build their real-world relationship. Founder and CEO Tal Zlotnitsky joined Cheddar to discuss how the app works. "The concept behind Our.Love is to give people the opportunity to understand where they stand in their relationship through very simple metrics that we provide within the app that will help them in real-time, see where they stand, see where their partner is, and be able to get closer together," he said.
The Super Bowl is just 48 hours away and things are definitely heating up in the social media space, especially on Twitter. Fans across the country are quickly engaging in color commentary as they call it, and actively sharing their views on who's expected to take the big win, which players they are looking forward to seeing. Senior Sports Partner Manager at Twitter, David Herman, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
Director and producer Ivan Reitman passed away over the weekend at the age of 75. The filmmaker was the mastermind behind some of America's favorite films such as "Ghostbusters". Reitman’s family released a statement explaining how they are comforted by the lives he has touched through his films.
The 21st Annual Food Network and Cooking Channel South Beach Wine & Food Festival (SOBEWFF), is returning to Miami on February 24 with proceeds to benefit the future leaders of the hospitality industry. Lee Schrager, the founder and director of the festival, and Food Network star Jeff Mauro joined Cheddar News to discuss what ticket holders can expect, how the festival benefits students, and how Mauro will be paying tribute to fellow food celebrity, Guy Fieri, by hosting a charity auction dinner. "I mean there's nobody bigger, nobody more magnetic right now in the food space than Guy," Maura said. "I mean the guy had a Super Bowl commercial on last night. That's a dream of mine, so I'm one step closer there just by doing a tight 20 minutes at his tribute dinner."
