October is breast cancer awareness month and the Wisconsin Well Woman Program is urging Wisconsin women to enroll for help covering screening costs. The program is open to enrollment for women ages 40 to 64 with little or no health insurance coverage and who are at or below 250% of the federal poverty level.
The WWWP is Wisconsin’s branch of the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program. The NBCCEDP is a program started in 1991 by the CDC to fund state health agencies to detect breast and cervical cancers. The WWWP helps cover follow-up visits for abnormal results and a range of other procedures such as HPV, multiple sclerosis and pap testing and pelvic exams.
Public Health Madison and Dane County reported that 936 people in Rock and Dane counties enrolled to receive free breast cancer screenings over the past year.
Wisconsin law requires that health insurance agencies provide one mammogram per year for women over the age of 50 and two mammograms for women from 45-49 with certain risk factors free of charge.
A Susan G. Komen foundation study found the median cost for a diagnostic mammogram nationwide is $234 and follow-up visits cost $451 each. Costs vary heavily depending on the state where care is provided and the type of insurance used.
A study from the United States Preventive Services Task Force, an independent panel appointed by members of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, recommended that women start breast cancer screenings at age 40. The study evaluated 36 screening methods and based the recommendation on years of life added against complications from false positive diagnoses.
Breast cancer affects 1 in 8 women during their lifetimes and is the second leading cause of cancer deaths for women. Across the United States, it is responsible for 7% of all cancer deaths.