Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Assembly Bill (AB) 1640 passed with bipartisan support.  It now moves to the Senate Appropriations Committee for further review.

“We are standing up for women,” said Evans.  “We must fight against the governor’s abandonment of poor women to die from treatable cancer.  By restoring mammogram access for thousands of women, this bill will prevent needless suffering and unconscionable death.  Poverty should not be a death sentence.”

“We know that early breast cancer detection saves lives-and saves money,” said Nava, author of legislation signed by the governor last year to increase access to digital mammography under Every Women Counts.  “It makes no sense to deny women this important health care. I am very pleased that this measure to continue access to this vital screening is moving forward.”

In response to the audit, available at http://www.bsa.ca.gov/pdfs/reports/2010-103.pdf, and the administration’s access restrictions adopted on January 1, AB 1640:
-- Restores program eligibility to women aged 40 and up.  The administration reduced access to women aged 50 and up, regardless of family medical history;
-- Requires the Department of Public Health (DPH) to notify the Legislature and program providers of any policy changes to the program 90 days in advance.  The administration announced changes by press release last December, less than 30 days in advance; and
-- Requires DPH to report on EWC effectiveness by February 1 of each year to the Legislature to allow for public program oversight.  Annual reporting by DPH has been required since 1994 when EWC was established but only one report has been submitted, in 1996.

Funded with tobacco taxes and federal dollars, Every Woman Counts provides breast and cervical cancer screening to low-income, uninsured women.  More than 1.2 million California women are eligible for the program.

Since EWC eligibility criteria are not prescribed in statute, DPH was able to implement – without warning – two eligibility changes to Every Woman Counts starting January 1, 2010:
·        The minimum age to receive breast cancer screening services was raised from 40 to 50 years of age; and
·        All new enrollment would be frozen for six months.
These two changes reduced program access by an estimated 100,000 and put an estimated 1,000 lives at risk by delaying breast cancer diagnoses.  Moreover, these changes have disproportionately affected women from communities of color.  From 2003 to 2008, 68.7% of women receiving mammograms through EWC were Hispanic, 15% were Asian-Pacific-Islander, 9% were White, and 2.5% were African American.

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.  In addition, studies show that breast cancer treatment costs can more than double if cancer goes undetected and spreads.  Costs for treatment can go from about $21,000 to over $52,000.  Approximately 21,700 women in California will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year and more than 4,000 will lose their battle with the disease.