We have previously discussed the changes announced by the Every Woman Counts program for breast cancer screening. EWC had announced effective 1/1/10 that they would no longer cover screening mammography for women ages 40-49 and would suspend enrollment of new patients into the program until July 1, 2010. The EWC program has informed us that they have a deficit in expected revenue over costs of approximately $16M in the current fiscal year ending June 30, 2010. The EWC program is funded primarily through a portion of tobacco tax revenue and a small percentage for CDC. The portion of revenue available from the tobacco tax has continued to decline.

 

The CRS has been involved in meeting with legislators and EWC staff over the last few months to discuss these terrible program changes and the impact on women this program is intended to serve. Both Assemblyman Pedro Nava and Assemblywoman Noreen Evans have called for an audit of the program and that these changes be reversed. Assemblywoman Evans (D-Santa Rosa) is chair of the Assembly Budget Committee and will be holding a hearing next week to review the program and these policies.

 

 In the Senate, Senator Oropeza has already introduced SB 836 to eliminate the sage screening change and to restore the necessary funding for the EWC program. This is an example of the impact of the current budget deficit and the lack of resources to adequately fund this important program. We will continue to advocate for prudent mammography screening policies and appropriate reimbursement for radiologists that provide these services.

 

 

Please consider submitting your application for ACR Fellowship to the CRS. We have previously indicated a deadline of February 5, 2010 for submission to the CRS but encourage you to submit your applications in the next few weeks. You can download the Fellowship application and review the criteria by going to www.acr.org and click the icon for "member-membership services".