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Chattanooga doctors say American Cancer Society rules on breast cancer wrong
In spite of new guidelines issued by the American Cancer Society, the Affordable Care Act will continue to pay for mammograms for women beginning at age 40 – for now.
The American Cancer Society’s new guidelines, issued earlier this week, recommend that women with an average risk of breast cancer start having mammograms at age 45 and continue once a year until age 54, then have them every other year as long as they are healthy and expected to live another 10 years.
When the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was passed in 2010, it authorized free mammograms for women at age 40 (with no symptoms) both for those covered by policies on the health care exchange and for those covered by most private insurance plans.
But hiding in the weeds is the United States Preventive Services Task Force, a panel of experts appointed by the Department of Health and Human Services that has recommended less testing. The Department of Health and Human Services, of course, oversees the ACA.
Although the panel in 2009 advised against routine mammograms for women ages 40-49, it later softened its approach and now says “the decision to start screening mammography in women before age 50 years should be an individual one.”
However, the task force gave the evidence for screening women under 50 a rating of “C,” which indicates its belief the benefit to women is small. And services with a “C” rating do not have to be covered by the ACA, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.
So there is at least a risk that one day the government could tell women between the ages of 40 and 49 that it may not pay for the mammograms it once promised.
In the near term, though, the United States Preventive Services Task Force said it would “examine the evidence” the American Cancer Society has developed before finalizing its recommendations. It also acknowledged “there are health benefits to beginning mammography screening for women in their 40s.”
Although the risk of false positive readings from mammograms is higher for younger women, many doctors and national organizations such as the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists are sticking by the cancer society’s previous recommendations to begin tests at age 40.
For now, the ACA is sticking to its guns. But for those who have chosen Obamacare, it’s a little scary to consider that one day that privilege could be yanked.