Low-Income Women Rejected from Free Cancer Screenings

Written by Marisa Kaplan, Print News Editor

Low-income women across the country are being turned away from cancer screenings due to state budget constraints.

According to the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Action Network, women who would usually be eligible for mammograms and other cancer-detecting tests aren’t receiving them because of program cutbacks. The number of women being turned away can’t be determined because many women are referred to other cancer services.

Over 20 states, including Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Colorado, and Illinois, have had to make these budget cuts. Controversy over who should receive mammograms has increased over the past several months. The U.S. Preventative Task Force advised that “exams not be given routinely until women are 50, and then every two years.”

This goes against what has long been recognized as the national position on receiving mammograms at age 40. Even though mammograms cost about $100, many free providers aren’t able to give as many as they could in years past.

In order to meet some demand, states are using their funds to increase federal funding, while others get private aid from nationally-renowned groups like the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

In 2009, the ACS approximates that 34,600 American women between 40 and 49 will learn that they have breast cancer. The free screenings identify “more than 39,000 breast cancers, 2,400 invasive cervical cancers and 126,000 pre-malignant cervical lesions.”

1. Elena Sánchez Says:
   February 1st, 2010 at 10:13 am

   I can only comment that I hope that the wives and/or female partners of those people making those decisions will never have to face the neccesity of those mammograms. Moreover, I hope that in that selected group of decision makers, there won’t be any woman who, in turn, would need that screening further on in her life.
   Maybe they should remember that because they are blessed with a job, it doesn’t mean that they can rely on the coverage of their health insurance – specially in these days.

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