Readout: State Leaders Hold Roundtable to Discuss Breast Cancer Screenings | Eastern NC Now

Press Release:

    RALEIGH     State health leaders met at the Governor's Mansion on Sept. 20 to discuss increasing affordable access for some breast cancer screenings.

    North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, NC Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kody H. Kinsley, NCDHHS Chief Medical Officer and State Health Director Dr. Elizabeth Cuervo Tilson, and North Carolina Senator Sydney Batch were there with multiple breast cancer survivors and practitioners who are advocating for House Bill 560, which is currently in the NC General Assembly.

    The goal is to increase coverage of breast cancer screening modalities for women at higher risk of breast cancer or for whom mammograms may not be effective in detecting lesions. This includes women with a history of breast cancer or women with dense breast tissue. According to the United States Preventive Services Task Force, nearly half of all women have dense breasts.

    NC Medicaid already covers these screenings. However, this coverage is not consistently available for women with private insurance policies.

    According to NCDHHS, approximately 6,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer every year. Of those 6,000 women, 1,000 of them will die.

    According to the CDC, deaths in women aged 50 to 74 who were screened every two years drop 26%.

• NC Department of Health and Human Services
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• news@dhhs.nc.gov