Edolphus Towns: “today I have introduced a House resolution calling for coverage of mammography screening in any benefits package…”

“today I have introduced a House resolution calling for coverage of mammography screening in any benefits package provided under health care reform, for all women between 40 and 49, and for any high risk woman under 40. The absence of mammography screening coverage for women in these age groups in the proposed health care reform package poses a serious threat to the lives of thousands of young women in this country. The fact is, women under 50 get breast cancer. Indeed, in 1992 alone, 40,000 breast cancer cases were diagnosed in women under 50, of which 28,900 were diagnosed in women between the ages of 40 and 49. The exclusion of mammography coverage in health care reform for women under 50 will affect most American families. No racial, ethnic, or economic class in America is immune from the pain and suffering of breast cancer: White women and Hawaiian Pacific Islanders have the highest incidence of breast cancer in this country; breast cancer is the leading cancer killer of young African-American and Hispanic women; and, for low-income women, the survival rates are 9 percent lower than for women with higher incomes. Last year, the Special Commission on Breast Cancer of the President's Cancer Panel concluded that earlier detection increases the likelihood of reducing mortality.”