6 States Gain Extended Medicare Coverage for Women With Breast Cancer

Six more states are now offering Medicare benefits to uninsured women under age 65 who have breast or cervical cancer and are not currently eligible for Medicare benefits.

The new federal program designed to increase screening and treatment of uninsured women has been approved by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for women in Utah, Idaho, South Dakota, Illinois, Indiana and Montana.

Rhode Island, New Hampshire, West Virginia and Maryland were the first states to file applications to participate in the federal program that offers coverage to uninsured women for the duration of their treatment if they are screened through the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program.

Since the CDC program began in 1990, more than 2.7 million screening tests have been given to more than 1.7 million women, according to CDC statistics.

The extended Medicare benefit was created under the Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention and Treatment Act, passed in October 2000.

Other sources: HCFA, Reuters