Washington State Health District Runs out of Money for Cancer Screening Program for Low-Income Women

A CDC-sponsored program that screens low-income women for breast and cervical cancers has run out of money four months early in Washington state, the Spokane Spokesman-Review reports. Nine clinics in the Spokane Regional Health District -- the only district in Washington state to run out of money for the program thus far -- will begin putting patients on waiting lists for screenings and will contact them when money is available again, most likely in July. The district received $304,000 for the fiscal year ending in June to pay for screenings through the CDC's National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (Johnson, Spokane Spokesman-Review, 2/26). The screening program, which began nationwide in 1990, provides states with $3 in federal funding for every $1 they spend on the program (CDC Web site). Uninsured women under age 65 who are diagnosed with breast or cervical cancer through the program are eligible to receive Medicaid coverage for treatment through the federal Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention and Treatment Act of 2000. Under that law, states receive a federal match of up to 85% of the treatment costs (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 8/28/01). The Spokane Regional Health District ran out of money to screen women because of "success in enrolling new patients" and the "unexpected costs of repeat mammograms and biopsies," program directors said. According to Pama Joyner, state director of the program, the district could have "stretched its dollars farther" if it had allowed hospital charity programs to perform some of the repeat diagnostic tests. Melanie Rose of the Spokane Regional Health District said, "[The screening program] hasn't ended. We will still serve the women currently in the system and we are working with the state Department of Health to see if we can access any additional funding now to provide re-screens to women" (Spokane Spokesman-Review, 2/26).