Letter to the editor: Women’s Way covering mammogram costs
Effective July 1, Women’s Way is covering screening mammograms for clients ages 40-64. That is right, starting at age 40! Until now, the organization was able to provide screening mammograms starting at age 50, and covered women under 40 only when followup was recommended. These funds are provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The American Cancer Society and other medical associations recommend that breast cancer screening begin at the age of 40. This 10-year difference between “recommended screening” and “provided screening” left many women without access to early detection services.By: Brenda Jo Gillund, RN, The Jamestown Sun
Effective July 1, Women’s Way is covering screening mammograms for clients ages 40-64. That is right, starting at age 40!
Until now, the organization was able to provide screening mammograms starting at age 50, and covered women under 40 only when followup was recommended. These funds are provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The American Cancer Society and other medical associations recommend that breast cancer screening begin at the age of 40. This 10-year difference between “recommended screening” and “provided screening” left many women without access to early detection services.
Since 1994, Altru’s Breast Cancer Coalition fund has been providing mammograms at Altru for 40- to 50-year-old women in the Grand Forks community until they became age eligible for Women’s Way. The Breast Cancer Screening program operates strictly by donations from the community. All money goes directly to the cost of providing mammograms for eligible women. Now that Women’s Way will be covering 40- to 64-year-olds, the Breast Cancer Coalition will be able to reallocate funds to help even more women receive mammograms. ABCC will continue to provide low-cost mammograms for women who are under insured.
At this point, the changes are based on two-year funding approval from North Dakota, and are not national funds. The additional funding is an amazing improvement to our North Dakota health care system, allowing more women to detect breast cancer early. And early detection leads to higher treatment success.
The Women’s Way state office is sending out a memo to health care providers and billing departments with new information including these changes. As an oncology nurse, I was elated to hear of this amazing improvement to our North Dakota health care system. If you, or someone you know, has been unable to receive breast cancer screening due to uninsured or under-insured status, call 1-800-449-6636 for more information.
Brenda Jo Gillund, RN
Grand Forks
Tags: womens way, opinion, letters, mammograms, screening
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