CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Earlier this month, U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies, joined in introducing the bipartisan Screening for Communities to Receive Early and Equitable Needed Services (SCREENS) for Cancer Act.

This bill – led by U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) – would reauthorize the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (NBCCEDP), a lifesaving program that provides breast and cervical cancer screening and diagnostic services for women who are low-income, uninsured, and underinsured who do not qualify for Medicaid. Since 1991, NBCCEDP has served more than 6.1 million women, detecting nearly 77,000 breast cancers and over 24,000 premalignant breast lesions.

“For over 30 years, the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program has served more than 6.1 million women with programs in all 50 states, including our own West Virginia Breast and Cervical Cancer Screening Program,” Ranking Member Capito said. “I am proud to join with my colleagues in introducing the SCREENS for Cancer Act, which would reauthorize this vital program through 2028. Working together, we will continue our fight against these diseases that take far too many of our mothers, sisters, daughters, and friends.”

“Screening is a key step in routine breast care but so many people are currently unable to access it – the SCREENS for Cancer Act can change that,” Molly Guthrie, VP of Policy & Advocacy at Susan G. Komen, said. “We have to make timely access to high-quality screening and diagnosis available to all, especially those in under-resourced communities where disparities in outcomes are highest, so that cancers can be caught early when there are more treatment options and prognosis is better.”

BACKGROUND:

The SCREENS for Cancer Act would reauthorize NBCCEDP through 2028. The program, which is a partnership between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state health departments, provides public education, outreach, patient navigation, and care coordination to increase breast and cervical cancer screening rates and reach underserved, vulnerable populations. Without access to early detection programs, many people who are uninsured are forced to delay or forgo screenings, which could lead to late-stage breast cancer diagnoses. This delay can mean that a person may not seek care until the cancer has spread beyond the breast, making it five times more expensive and harder to treat.

This SCREENS for Cancer Act would also increase flexibility to NBCCEDP grantees, allowing for a greater emphasis on implementing innovative evidence-based interventions and aggressive outreach to underserved communities through media, peer educators, and patient navigators. At current funding levels, NBCCEDP serves fewer than 15% of the estimated number of eligible women for breast cancer services. The SCREENS for Cancer Act provides additional funding to better support the program and ensure that more women are able to access services.

The SCREENS for Cancer Act is endorsed by: The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American Sexual Health Association, Brem Foundation to Defeat Breast Cancer, Check for a Lump, FORCE: Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered, Living Beyond Breast Cancer, Men Supporting Women With Cancer, National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women's Health, National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship, National Comprehensive Cancer Network, National Women’s Health Network, Prevent Cancer Foundation, Sharsheret, Society of Breast Imaging, Susan G. Komen, The National Consortium of Breast Centers, Tigerlily Foundation, and Young Survival Coalition.

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