Economy Puts State Breast Cancer Screening at Risk

Breast Cancer Advocates Urge States to Spare Neediest Women from Budget Cuts

WASHINGTON, D.C. – December 10, 2009 – The Susan G. Komen for the Cure® Advocacy Alliance warned today that recently announced cuts to breast health services in California are part of a growing trend among states that are dealing with rising budget deficits.  Leaders from the world’s largest grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and advocates also lamented that the recent confusion over mammography guidelines is adding another layer of complexity to the challenge of protecting critical services.

In the most recent example of the threat facing breast health services, California announced significant cuts to its Every Woman Counts program, effectively shutting the doors to breast cancer screening services for low-income and uninsured women for the first six months of 2010.   Citing budgetary concerns, the state also announced that once they begin screening new patients this summer, only women age 50 and above will be eligible – significantly reducing the number of women in the state that will have access to affordable breast cancer screenings. All seven Komen Affiliates in California are actively working with members of the State Assembly and other members of the public health community to bring attention to these cuts and to work toward getting the services restored.

“We fully understand the tough economic situation our elected leaders across the country face and the difficult choices they must make,” said Ambassador Nancy G. Brinker, founder and CEO of Susan G. Komen for the Cure®, the Komen Advocacy Alliance’s sister organization.  “Yet to balance the budget on the backs of the neediest women in their state is a mistake.  Women who have very few options and limited resources should not be denied access to screening and treatment services that may save their life.”

Every Women Counts (EWC) is a joint program by the California Department of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program.   Approximately 1.2 million women are eligible for EWC, yet due to an already insufficient level of funding the program only screens about 270,000 women a year, between a fourth and a third of whom are under age 50. 

The news about changes to EWC come on the heels of new mammography screening recommendations recently unveiled by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, which generated significant controversy and confusion for women.  Some have interpreted the guidelines as a recommendation against mammography for women age 40 to 49.  In fact, the task force actually intended to encourage women to talk with their providers and assess their personal risk factors in deciding whether to have a mammogram.  However it was intended, the potential for impediments to screening based on the guidelines exist.

“Women ages 40 to 49 must have access to mammography if they need it,” said Jennifer Luray, president of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Advocacy Alliance.  “As states across the country struggle to balance their budgets, we will be watching to ensure the USPSTF recommendations are not used as a justification for slashing these critical services to women in need."

Early detection of breast cancer is a key to surviving the disease.  When breast cancer is detected early, the 5-year relative survival rate is 98 percent, but declines to 84 percent for regional disease and 23 percent when cancer has metastasized or spread to other parts of the body.  Unfortunately, women with low incomes who are uninsured or underinsured are more likely to skip potentially life-saving cancer screenings, which leads to later diagnoses, larger tumors and lower survival rates. 

The KAA noted that more than 190,000 women in the U.S. will have been diagnosed with breast cancer this year, and more than 40,000 will have died. 

“We know the need will continue regardless of the ability of states to meet it.  Susan G. Komen for the Cure and our 120 Affiliates in communities across the country will continue to do their part to meet the needs of underserved women; yet, these resources are extremely limited and not available in all areas.  We cannot do this alone,” said Brinker.   “We have long been concerned that one-third of women in the U.S. today — some 23 million — are already not receiving regular recommended screenings due to lack of access, education or awareness.  Unfortunately, cuts to safety-net programs only make the problem worse.”