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News Release

HHS TO PROPOSE INCREASED FUNDING FOR CANCER SCREENING

President Bush will propose a $10 million increase in funding for breast and cervical cancer screening to help low-income and underserved women, HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson said today.

The proposed increase is for the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program, administered by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which provides screening services, including clinical breast examinations, mammograms, pelvic examinations and Pap tests, to underserved women. It also funds post-screening diagnostic services, such as surgical consultation and biopsy, to ensure that women with abnormal results receive timely and adequate referrals.

"Together, breast and cervical cancer take the lives of more than 40,000 American women each year," Secretary Thompson said. "These deaths occurred disproportionately among low-income women and women who belong to racial or ethnic minorities. By increasing screening rates for at-risk women, we can save lives."

HHS' fiscal year 2004 budget will request an additional $10 million for this program, bringing the total requested funding to $211 million. The additional funding would allow the program to provide an additional 32,000 procedures, for a total of 562,000 procedures. The increase also will support efforts to increase education and outreach programs for women and health care providers, to improve quality assurance measures for screening and to improve access to screening and follow-up services.

In addition, HHS has approved Medicaid plan amendments for 49 states and the District of Columbia that allow their state Medicaid programs to provide health coverage to women without health insurance who are diagnosed with cancer through the free CDC screening program. This coverage helps to ensure that women receive appropriate care and treatment as quickly as possible, when the odds for a successful recovery are greatest.

The National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program was established by the Breast and Cervical Cancer Mortality Prevention Act of 1990. Since its creation, the program has provided more than 3 million screening examinations and diagnosed more than 12,000 breast cancers and 800 invasive cervical cancers. The program operates in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, six U.S. territories and 12 American Indian and Alaska Native organizations.

More information about the CDC screening program is available at http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/nbccedp/. Details about this Medicaid option are available at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/bccpt/.

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Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are available at http://www.hhs.gov/news.

Last Revised: January 30, 2003