American Cancer Society: ACA helps early detection of cervical cancer.

The ACA has had a string of bad headlines of late; between the dozen Co-Ops which are closing due to a variety of factors including the Risk Corridor Massacre, the High Deductible brouhaha and the peculiarly-timed announcement by UnitedHealthcare that they may decide to drop off the exchanges in 2017, there's been a lot of premature claims that the law is in trouble.

However, there's also some very positive news to report. 5 other major insurers have told UnitedHealthcare to chill out. Enrollments are chugging along nicely (HC.gov should have broken the 2 million mark on Saturday, and nationally we should be up to around 2.6 million). The exchange websites seem to be working smoothly across the board (or at least, if there've been any significant technical problems, I've yet to hear about them).

And then there's this:

Rise in Early Cervical Cancer Detection Is Linked to Affordable Care Act

WASHINGTON — Cancer researchers say there has been a substantial increase in women under the age of 26 who have received a diagnosis of early-stage cervical cancer, a pattern that they say is most likely an effect of the Affordable Care Act.

Starting in 2010, a provision of the health law allowed dependents to stay on their parents’ health insurance until age 26. The number of uninsured young adults fell substantially in the years that followed. The share of 19- to 25-year-olds without health insurance declined to 21 percent in the first quarter of 2014 from 34 percent in 2010 — a decrease of about four million people, federal data show.

...The study, published in JAMA, was not aimed at proving that the change was a direct result of the law. But the size of the database, and the fact that the share of young women with health insurance had increased so substantially, led researchers to conclude that the law was having an effect. (Pap tests are a part of most routine medical checkups for young women.)

“It’s a very remarkable finding, actually,” said Dr. Ahmedin Jemal, one of the researchers. “You see the effect of the A.C.A. on the cancer outcomes.”

Of course, the idiots among us will probably try to claim that this means that the ACA has caused more women to have cancer. Just wait for it.

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