California Breast Cancer Screening Program Raises Eligibility Age

California's Health and Human Services Agency announced it will temporarily halt enrollment in a state breast cancer screening program for low-income women and raise the eligibility age from 40 to 50 in response to budget restrictions, the AP/San Jose Mercury News reports. The decision was announced Dec. 1 and will take effect Jan. 1, with enrollment beginning again on July 2 with the new age limit. The program expects to serve about 259,000 women this fiscal year, compared with 311,000 in the last fiscal year.

Agency spokesperson Al Lundeen said the decision is motivated solely by fiscal concerns and has nothing to do with recent recommendations by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force stating that most women do not need annual mammograms before age 50 (Tayefe Mohajer, AP/San Jose Mercury News, 12/9). The task force said women ages 40 through 49 and their physicians should determine the need for breast cancer screening on an individual basis (Fikes, Contra Costa Times, 12/8).

Mark Horton, director of the state Department of Public Health, said declining state tobacco tax revenues and increased demand were the reason for the changes. According to a chart provided by the department, the program received $61.3 million in funding in FY 2009-2010, an increase of nearly $10 million from the previous fiscal year. Horton said, "These increases have not been enough to keep pace with the growing demand for and cost of providing breast cancer screening services" (Tay, AP/San Jose Mercury News, 12/9).

The program cuts have been criticized by advocates for low-income women who receive screenings through the program. The advocates say the cuts would result in a two-tier system that is based on money instead of medical standards (Contra Costa Times, 12/8).


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