For Immediate Release:
September 28, 2005

Contact:
Nanci Gonder
Office of Public Information
573-751-6062

State program offers free cancer screenings to thousands of Missouri women
About 7,000 women participated last year, but many more are eligible

A state program that offers free breast and cervical cancer screenings to thousands of Missouri women wants more women to take advantage of the service. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month – a good time for women to schedule these life-saving tests.

Gov. Matt Blunt has signed a proclamation emphasizing the importance of breast cancer awareness and early detection of the disease.

The Show Me Healthy Women program, coordinated by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, has provided breast and cervical cancer screenings to qualifying women for the past 13 years. Women who meet specific residency, age and income guidelines can participate.

Last year, about 7,000 women received screenings through the program, but thousands more women are eligible for the program.

“Show Me Healthy Women can help save lives by detecting cancer early, when it is most treatable,” said Bruce Jenkins, manager of the state health department's Show Me Healthy Women. “Our program has grown through the years, but we can offer these vital screenings to many more women in Missouri.”

The Show Me Healthy Women program works with public health agencies, private physician offices, hospitals and clinics in 76 Missouri counties and the City of St. Louis to provide the cancer screening services. A federal grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides funding for the program.

To qualify for the program, women must:

• Have a household income no more than twice the federal poverty level. That level is $19,140 for a woman living alone and increases by $6,520 for each additional family member.
• Be 35 to 64 years of age or older if not receiving Medicare Part B to be eligible for a Pap test, pelvic exam and clinical breast exam. Women age 50 to 64 are also eligible for a mammogram, and women age 35 to 49 are eligible for diagnostic services for abnormal breast or cervical exams or tests.

If cancer is diagnosed, free treatment is available through the Medicaid Breast and Cervical Treatment Act (BCCT). This legislation authorizes matching funds for Missouri to participate in a national program that pays for the treatment of breast and cervical cancer diagnosed through the Show Me Healthy Women program.

“We urge all women to get regular screenings for breast and cervical cancer through their health care provider or, for those who qualify, through the Show Me Healthy Women program,” said Jenkins. “These important screenings help many women live longer and healthier lives.”

Women can find out if they qualify for the Show Me Health Women program by calling the National Cancer Institute's Cancer Information Service toll free at 1-800-4-CANCER (1-800-422-6237) and select option 1, or visit the Show Me Healthy Women web site at www.dhss.mo.gov/BreastCervCancer/Eligibility.html.

To help promote breast cancer awareness and provide funds for other breast cancer services, the Missouri Women's Council offers a special license plate picturing a pink ribbon, the symbol for breast cancer awareness. The fee for the Missouri Women's Council Pink Plate is a tax-deductible donation of $25 or more. For more information about obtaining the special license plate, call 573-751-0819 or visit www.womenscouncil.org.