Legislation reauthorizes program that has helped detect 80,000 invasive breast cancers since 1991
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) introduced the bipartisan Screening for Communities to Receive Early and Equitable Needed Services (SCREENS) for Cancer Act to reauthorize a program that provides access to vital breast and cervical cancer screenings, diagnostic services, and health education to women and families across the country.
“Nearly every family in Nevada, including my own, knows the shock, pain, and confusion that follows a cancer diagnosis,” said Senator Cortez Masto. “With early detection, however, outcomes improve dramatically. This bipartisan legislation would help ensure that every woman has access to lifesaving cancer screenings, no matter her income level or insurance status.”
An estimated 319,750 people in the U.S. will be diagnosed with breast cancer and nearly 43,000 will die from the disease this year alone. The SCREENS for Cancer Act reauthorizes the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (NBCCEDP). Since 1991, the NBCCEDP, a partnership between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state departments of health, has provided lifesaving breast and cervical cancer screening and diagnostic services to more than six million women with low incomes who do not have adequate insurance.
NBCCEDP has a proven record of cancer detection, detecting nearly 80,000 breast cancers, over 25,000 premalignant breast lesions, more than 5,300 cervical cancers, and over 248,000 premalignant cervical lesions. The program also provides public education, outreach, patient navigation, and care coordination to increase breast and cervical cancer screening rates and reach underserved populations. Without access to early detection programs, many people who are uninsured or lack adequate insurance are forced to delay or forgo screenings, which could lead to late-stage detection and treatment.
The SCREENS for Cancer Act would provide flexibility to NBCCEDP grantees, allowing for a greater emphasis on implementing innovative, evidence-based interventions and aggressive outreach to underserved communities through media, peer educators, and patient navigators. The bill authorizes $235 million per year for FY26 through FY30.
A one-pager on this legislation is available here. Full text of this bill is available here.
Senator Cortez Masto has been a champion of affordable, quality health care, including mental and behavioral care. Cortez Masto has pushed pharmacy benefit managers to help lower prescription drug costs. She passed legislation to allow Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices and cap the cost of insulin at $35-a-month for Medicare recipients through the Inflation Reduction Act. To lower health care costs for all Nevadans, Cortez Masto worked to expand health care subsidies for individuals and families getting health care through the exchange.
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