Capito, Bipartisan Group Introduce Legislation to Increase Access to Lifesaving Cancer Screenings

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) today joined Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), and a bipartisan group of Senate and House colleagues in introducing the Screening for Communities to Receive Early and Equitable Needed Services (SCREENS) for Cancer Act to 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.

The NBCCEDP, a partnership between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state departments of health, has provided breast and cervical cancer screening and diagnostic services to more than six million women, detecting nearly 75,000 breast cancers and almost 4,000 premalignant breast lesions.

“Simply put, the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program saves lives in West Virginia, and across the country,” Senator Capito said. “Reauthorizing this program is a key component of the SCREENS for Cancer Act, and I’m proud to help introduce it today. As a longtime advocate in the fight against cancer and as a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I’ll continue to ensure this vital program can maintain its role in providing access to critical medical services that help avoid often preventable deaths.”

The SCREENS for Cancer Act would reauthorize the NBCCEDP through 2027. The program provides public education, outreach, patient navigation, and care coordination to increase breast and cervical cancer screening rates and reach underserved 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 up to 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 only 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 Act is endorsed by: Susan G. Komen, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Association of Oncology Social Work, Check for a Lump, Living Beyond Breast Cancer, FORCE: Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered, Men Supporting Women with Cancer, National Cervical Cancer Coalition, National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship, National Comprehensive Cancer Network, National Consortium of Breast Centers, National Hispanic Medical Association, National Women’s Health Network, Prevent Cancer Foundation, Sharsheret, Society for Women’s Health Research, Society for Women’s Health Research and TOUCH, The Black Breast Cancer Alliance.

Full text of the legislation is available here.

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