To: The United States House of Representatives and The United States Senate

Protect Mammography for Women at Risk

We urge Congress to protect ANNUAL mammography coverage for women in their 40s under the Affordable Care Act.

Why is this important?

As federal guidelines are updated under ObamaCare, and are on track to go into effect January 1, 2016, private insurance and Medicare coverage for a procedure that millions of women currently get at no cost will be affected.

In 2015, the American Cancer Society estimates 231, 840 women in the U.S. will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer. 40,290 of them will die. Even more alarming is that number could surge. The National Institutes of Health predicts the number of U.S. women diagnosed with breast cancer could increase by as much as 50 percent within the next 15 years.

Many of these deaths can be prevented with regular mammograms and early detection. So why aren’t they?

Ask the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF). The Task Force, an independent, volunteer panel of experts in preventive care and evidence-based medicine regularly reviews the scientific data about breast cancer screening. The group recently posted a draft recommendation that the benefit of mammography screening increases with age, with the 50 to 74 age group benefiting the most. Yet they recommend women over 50 only get a mammogram every other year.

The Task Force found that mammography screening may not be necessary at all for women in their 40s. This means ObamaCare and Medicare will no longer cover annual screenings beginning 2016.

The American Cancer Society continues to recommend mammograms every year for healthy women beginning at age 40.

Is the USPSTF looking to increase the breast cancer death rate?

When the Task Force issued similar guidelines back in 2009, it took an act of Congress to ensure mammography coverage for women younger than 50. This new legislation eliminates private insurance coverage and Medicare coverage of annual mammograms for women over 40. Is an act of Congress again necessary to preserve these lifesaving procedures?

What can you do?

Be heard.

Call or email your Congressman. [Contact info: http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/]

Call your insurance provider.

Push for annual mammography coverage for women in their 40s under the Affordable Care Act.

Save your own life and those you love.