A four-part series of articles this week in the Daily Herald highlighted the courage of breast cancer patients and the fight to conquer the disease.

The stories that were told bring up yet again the need for updated health policies and the obstacles to creating them.

The facts are stark enough. Today 2.4 million American women have been diagnosed and treated for breast cancer. More than 40,000 women (and more than 400 men) will likely die from the disease this year.

This week's series has shown how people have battled back, refusing to succumb to despair, and finding reserves of courage they'd never known they had. Some have discovered a new perspective on life and a deeper appreciation of all they've been given.

Some of the stories of friends and neighbors throughout Utah County can only end in tears. Breast cancer is the second-leading cause of death among women, and though much progress has been made, doctors are still a long way from victory over it.

Utahns should be proud that one of the leading centers of research is the Huntsman Cancer Institute. That organization began with the determination of industrialist Jon Huntsman Sr. to fight diseases that claimed his mother, father and stepmother, and which he himself has battled.

The University of Utah has worked with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to use genealogical records to track the disease and find out more about genes that may cause it. Their ultimate hope is to craft personalized treatments that will use the most effective treatments, and only those treatments, in each unique case.

This week's articles also shed light on the role that medical insurance plays in these human dramas. Patients not only fight the disease, they must cope with the costs involved.

About a week ago, a group called Families USA released a report asserting that family health care premiums rose 4.9 times faster than earnings for Utah workers from 2000 to 2007. Businesses and consumers have all noticed the hit.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the employer-paid portion of health insurance premiums for a Utah family was $10,975 in 2006 (the most recent year available), or double the rate of 2000. In Utah, 60 percent of businesses offer coverage to their employees today, down from 70 percent eight years ago.

And, plainly, those trends have continued in recent years and are likely to be exacerbated by the recent economic slump.

Utah has been trying to revamp its own health care system. Efforts so far only underline how tough a job it is.

Utah's Health System Reform Task Force has been working for months to craft a policy. To sum up the goals, at least as they have been portrayed so far, the ideal Utah medical insurance system would cover everyone without breaking the state's bank; give Utahns the high-quality health care they have every right to expect, but at "affordable" prices; force people to do some things (such as buy insurance) while counting on them to assume more personal responsibility; all this while drastically altering the state's health, business, legal and medical systems.

In short, the objective seems almost impossible.

News from at least one other state is far from encouraging. Earlier this year, Hawaii launched a universal child health care program. After just seven months, however, the state had to halt the program. Families who had private health insurance were dropping it to enroll in the free public program. That was going to bust the state's budget, and the governor pulled the plug. Other states have had similar experiences.

Of course, the presidential candidates have their own health-insurance plans, but it's hard to predict if either will come to pass and impossible to say what the final version of any national health "reform" might look like.

For the moment, Utah families will have to cope with the system as it is. Fortunately, that system has so far been able to provide excellent care, and organizations such as the Huntsman Cancer Institute are working to provide for even better treatments.

Meanwhile, Utahns will do what they've always done: rely on their faith and families to see them through.