Expanding Medicaid Coverage for Women's Cancers
Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson has just approved the first three proposals by states to expand Medicaid benefits to uninsured women who are diagnosed with breast or cervical cancer.
Maryland, New Hampshire and West Virginia are the first three states to take advantage of the federal Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention and Treatment Act (BCCPT) that was signed into law in October 2000.
The law extends the full Medicaid benefit package to women who are screened and found to need treatment through the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program, a federal program administered through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Since the CDC program began in 1990, more than 2.7 million breast and cervical cancer screening tests have been provided to more than 1.7 million women. Under the new law, these women may now be eligible for Medicaid benefits for the duration of their cancer treatment.
To qualify for the new program, women must be under age 65, not otherwise eligible for Medicaid, and without creditable health care coverage.
Adoption of coverage for women under the BCCPT Act is optional for states. However, states that do offer the benefit will receive an enhanced matching rate for women who enroll.
"We are taking bold action today to ensure that women who are fighting breast and cervical cancer will get the help they need," Secretary Thompson said. "This new program helps give states the flexibility they need to best serve their citizens."
In 1990, Congress passed the landmark Breast and Cervical Cancer Mortality Prevention Act. That legislation established a new federal program-the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program mentioned above.
In the ten years since its inception, this program has provided millions of screening exams to underserved women, including older women, women with low incomes, and women of racial and ethnic minority groups.
The program has diagnosed over 5,800 breast cancers, more than 31,000 precancerous cervical lesions, and over 500 cervical cancers.
The recently-enacted Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention and Treatment Act, which was signed into law this past October, goes beyond screening to provide breast and cervical cancer treatment under Medicaid to women who might not normally qualify for the assistance.
While only three states have so far been approved for this expanded program, most other states are expected to submit similar applications within the next few years.
For more information about the Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention and Treatment Act, you can go to the following web sites: http://hcfa.gov/medicaid/bccpthm.htm or http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/nbccedp/index.htm.
SOURCES:
Press Statement by Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson, March 30, 2001
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (http://www.hhs.gov)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (http://www.cdc.gov)
[Table of Contents] [Archived Issues / Search] [The Breast Center]