Cost shouldn’t be hurdle for cancer exams
My doctor recently referred me to be screened for breast cancer after a regular exam. And like the overwhelming majority of black women, I have dense breast tissue, which decreases the sensitivity of mammography screening. This makes breast cancer more difficult to detect using traditional, older screening technology.
The breast health center technician asked me if I would be willing to pay any additional out-of-pocket cost — possibly between $50 and $200 — if I opted to use the better technology of a digital breast tomosynthesis. This screening might not be covered by my insurance, the technician advised. Yet, a traditional mammogram would not find cancer in my body — just like it misses early cancers in thousands of black women’s breasts.
It wasn’t long ago in my life that the sticker shock of the technician’s cost estimate would have forced me to make a different choice — to forgo the screening that could potentially save my life. This is a choice low-income women are forced to make every day, and it’s costing them their lives.
Black women die of breast cancer 41 percent often more than white women. My work with the Black Women’s Health Imperative is focused on narrowing or eliminating the health disparities threatening the nation’s 21 million black women and girls. Black women dying of breast cancer more often than white counterparts is a disparity we cannot let stand. We have the tools to end this with early detection — which nearly guarantees a five-year survival rate.
The only thing stopping this tremendous investment in women’s health is a commitment by insurers to cover the cost of screening using the best possible screening technology: digital breast tomosynthesis, sometimes referred to as a 3-D mammogram.
Early detection saves women’s lives. Yet we still expect women to play Russian roulette with cancer screenings? We can and should close the racial divide on breast cancer mortality by requiring all insurance plans to cover the best possible screening procedure. Doing so has the potential to save the lives of thousands of black women
Digital breast tomosynthesis is a better mammogram; all women should have the option to choose one in consultation with her health care provider.
in our community.
A mammogram is a mammogram, regardless of the technology. This is why HB 1036, which the Texas House of Representatives passed Friday, is so important: It leaves the decision about what exam is best for a breast cancer screening up to a woman and her health-care provider.
In the absence of a cure, early detection is a woman’s best hope for surviving breast cancer. Digital breast tomosynthesis is a better mammogram; all women should have the option to choose one in consultation with her health care provider. By making sure we stay current with advances in breastcancer screening, we can find more cancers earlier and give more women the chance to survive their diagnosis.
We can and must close the racial divide on breast cancer mortality by reducing the financial barriers to effective cancer screening. In doing so, we will send a strong signal to women across the state that every life matters, regardless of race or breast density. I urge the state Senate to support the bill.