Each year CABCO works with the California legislature on legislation that will make a difference in the lives of those affected by breast cancer.
This year there was no particular California legislation that made a difference in the lives of those affected by breast cancer. In 2011 CABCO continued to work to retain adequate funding to support the Every Woman Counts Program (see Background below). The budget did include this funding and it also continued coverage under MediCal for the Breast and Cervical Treatment Program.
Background: In 1991 CABCO members worked with Assemblymember Barbara Friedman and achieved the passage of a two cent tax on each package of cigarettes. One cent of this tax went to support screening for breast cancer and, combined with federal funding for screening from the Breast and Cervical Cancer Program, created the Every Woman Counts (EWC) program. This California program provided breast cancer screening for underserved women with inadequate insurance who were under 200% of the poverty level. This program covered annual mammograms for women over 40 years of age. As the program has succeeded and more and more women are screened by the program, the funding has become inadequate.
On January 1, 2010 the Department of Public Health revised the eligibility reqirements for the program, changing them to allow screening for only those women over 50 years of age who have already been screened by the program. The 2010 California budget provided adequate funding to have the program revert to its original eligibility rerquirements.