ALVA Woodpeckers build home in woman’s house You may have heard of squatters, but this woman is dealing with squawkers. Who needs a rooster to wake up when you have woodpeckers?
FORT MYERS Man claims he was trapped in a high-rise for 5 days A 77-year-old man wants justice after he claims he spent days trapped on the 24th floor of a high-rise apartment building.
PUNTA GORDA Charlotte Correctional prisoner arrested for death of another inmate State Attorney Amira Fox convened a grand jury, which decided to move forward with a case against a Charlotte Correctional inmate.
SANIBEL Construction near Dairy Queen eagle nest on Sanibel raises concerns While many eagle nests may be a bit difficult to see, one nest has always been a favorite for Sanibel residents and tourists.
The environmental effects of artificial sweeteners Experts are studying how the foods we eat affect the environment, especially after we flush our waste down the toilet.
Victim reacts to man exposing himself to her Ring camera You get a notification on your phone from your ring camera app that someone is at the door, only to find out it is someone exposing themselves. It’s the last thing victim Maria Kivi wanted or expected to see last week.
LEE COUNTY The art of capturing your eye and drawing you in How do you capture young, hip, trendy, fun, movers and shakers, all in a pose? We take you behind the scenes of a Gulfshore Life cover shoot.
FORT MYERS The lives of two SJC Boxers changed in the ring Two SJC Boxers, Mario Nunez and Arbon Kurtishi, help each other in the ring as each of them had their lives changed because of boxing.
FORT MYERS Chlamydia cases rising sharply in Lee County If you think about a crowded space- something with more than 250 people- if it’s in Lee county, statistically one person has chlamydia.
SANIBEL Sanibel resort day passes hope to get more business on the island A pass will allow vacationers to hang out at a Sanibel beach club for a day in hopes of drumming up some business.
Voting equipment tested ahead of Lee County elections Voting equipment is being tested in Lee County. This is to ensure all ballots are printed and counted correctly for the upcoming election.
Collier County teen assaulted after leaving party The teen has been charged and the sheriff’s office said they’re aware that many believe felony charges are in order, but under Florida law, there are very specific criteria that must be met for felony charges to be filed.
WINK weather team watching tropical wave over Atlantic Ocean The Weather Authority is watching a tropical disturbance over the Central Atlantic Ocean.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral drug bust leads investigators to fake fentanyl, cash and guns Cape Coral man arrest on drug charges. Investigators said they found, guns, drugs, and more than $32,000 in Richard Riley’s home.
NAPLES Naples youth flag football team to compete in Ohio tournament This weekend, the Naples Lunatics Green will compete in the Superhero Sports tournament in Canton, Ohio.
ALVA Woodpeckers build home in woman’s house You may have heard of squatters, but this woman is dealing with squawkers. Who needs a rooster to wake up when you have woodpeckers?
FORT MYERS Man claims he was trapped in a high-rise for 5 days A 77-year-old man wants justice after he claims he spent days trapped on the 24th floor of a high-rise apartment building.
PUNTA GORDA Charlotte Correctional prisoner arrested for death of another inmate State Attorney Amira Fox convened a grand jury, which decided to move forward with a case against a Charlotte Correctional inmate.
SANIBEL Construction near Dairy Queen eagle nest on Sanibel raises concerns While many eagle nests may be a bit difficult to see, one nest has always been a favorite for Sanibel residents and tourists.
The environmental effects of artificial sweeteners Experts are studying how the foods we eat affect the environment, especially after we flush our waste down the toilet.
Victim reacts to man exposing himself to her Ring camera You get a notification on your phone from your ring camera app that someone is at the door, only to find out it is someone exposing themselves. It’s the last thing victim Maria Kivi wanted or expected to see last week.
LEE COUNTY The art of capturing your eye and drawing you in How do you capture young, hip, trendy, fun, movers and shakers, all in a pose? We take you behind the scenes of a Gulfshore Life cover shoot.
FORT MYERS The lives of two SJC Boxers changed in the ring Two SJC Boxers, Mario Nunez and Arbon Kurtishi, help each other in the ring as each of them had their lives changed because of boxing.
FORT MYERS Chlamydia cases rising sharply in Lee County If you think about a crowded space- something with more than 250 people- if it’s in Lee county, statistically one person has chlamydia.
SANIBEL Sanibel resort day passes hope to get more business on the island A pass will allow vacationers to hang out at a Sanibel beach club for a day in hopes of drumming up some business.
Voting equipment tested ahead of Lee County elections Voting equipment is being tested in Lee County. This is to ensure all ballots are printed and counted correctly for the upcoming election.
Collier County teen assaulted after leaving party The teen has been charged and the sheriff’s office said they’re aware that many believe felony charges are in order, but under Florida law, there are very specific criteria that must be met for felony charges to be filed.
WINK weather team watching tropical wave over Atlantic Ocean The Weather Authority is watching a tropical disturbance over the Central Atlantic Ocean.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral drug bust leads investigators to fake fentanyl, cash and guns Cape Coral man arrest on drug charges. Investigators said they found, guns, drugs, and more than $32,000 in Richard Riley’s home.
NAPLES Naples youth flag football team to compete in Ohio tournament This weekend, the Naples Lunatics Green will compete in the Superhero Sports tournament in Canton, Ohio.
Credit: Shutterstock A breast cancer diagnosis is scary, and the test to find out if you have it could cost you thousands, even with health insurance. That has a lot of women skipping their screenings. Women are told to have mammograms annually, but only if you’re over 50. Still, breast cancer concerns exist for everyone. Dr. Tasleem Padamsee, faculty affiliate at The Ohio State University’s James Comprehensive Cancer Center, hears story after story. “I remember a particular woman telling me the story of her care provider telling her, ‘Well, really you should be getting these MRI, but I don’t know if you want to do that, because it’s really expensive.’ And she said, ‘Well, will my insurance cover it?'” The answer was no. But in this case, the woman wanted to move forward anyway, Padamsee said. “She called to make an appointment. And they said it’ll actually be $3,500.” Another woman told Padamsee she wanted a preventative mastectomy because her BRCA gene mutation puts her at a high risk of developing breast cancer. “They couldn’t convince the insurance company that it was a preventive procedure. And all of the physicians involved said it’s a preventive procedure.” With a price tag of $20,000, the woman is still looking for help. Padamsee’s research found that even with insurance, the cost of preventative care is too high for a lot of women. Forty-four percent of the women she interviewed say high deductibles, prescription costs and co-pays all impacted their health care decisions. “It’s not about them not being willing to make choices. It’s about them not being able to follow through because of a variety of constraints, including really powerful financial ones that get in the way,” she said. “From a purely financial perspective, these companies are having to guess – am I actually saving myself any money by doing the screening? Or am I just incurring the cost of the screening?” Athos Health CEO Jon Hess said health insurance companies aren’t to blame for the lack of coverage. They don’t set the standards. “Most health plans drive it off of the U.S. Preventive Care Task Force, which is supposed to be an independent group of doctors that decide what tasks are medically appropriate for individuals.” The task force is updating its recommendation, but until it includes more coverage for preventative measures, “I can’t tell you how hard it is to have a conversation with women where their mother died at the age of 35 because of breast cancer, and yet they’re 35 and can’t get a mammogram covered as preventative,” Hess said. “Some of the choices that they’re asked to make are very problematic and challenging,” Padamsee said. “That MRI is not covered by insurance can be several thousands of dollars.” Women will continue to have hard conversations and make costly calls. Padamsee’s study found that women from all socioeconomic backgrounds worried about the cost of covering preventative care. If you have a health care cost concern or question, visit our Cost of Care page.