Senate HELP Committee To Examine New Mammogram Recommendations

Main Category: Breast Cancer
Also Included In: Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 26 Nov 2009 - 2:00 PDT

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The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will hold a hearing to examine the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force's recently revised breast cancer screening guidelines, including the recommendation that women begin biennial mammograms at age 50 instead of annual mammograms beginning at age 40, CQ HealthBeat reports. USPSTF is an independent panel sponsored by the HHS Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

On Tuesday, a bipartisan group of 22 senators sent a letter to HELP Committee Chair Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) asking that the committee assess the recommendations and try to dispel any confusion over when women should be screened for breast cancer. "These recommendations, which have been widely criticized by patients and doctors alike, could prove devastating for women at risk for breast cancer," the letter said. It continued, "The American people deserve to know more about how this task force came to its controversial findings" (Norman, CQ HealthBeat, 11/24).

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) wrote the letter. She said, "These recommendations have caused great confusion among women," adding, "Women are seeking answers and are asking their elected representatives whether the task force's finding will put them at increased risk for this deadly disease" (Brady, Roll Call, 11/24). Murkowski continued, "And to compound that confusion, [HHS] Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said afterwards that women in their 40s should continue to get mammograms." Sebelius said that the recommendations will not alter insurance coverage for mammograms under federal programs. The American Cancer Society also continues to recommend that women begin annual mammograms at age 40 (CQ HealthBeat, 11/24).

Controversy Shows Challenges of Controlling Health Costs, Post Columnist Says

The "uproar" surrounding the USPSTF guidelines "is proof of the blindingly obvious: Health care reform that actually controls costs -- rather than just pretending to do so -- would be virtually impossible to achieve," Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson writes. None of the current versions of health reform legislation in Congress "even tries to address a central factor that sends costs spiraling out of control, which is that each of us wants the best shot at a long, healthy life that medical science can offer," he continues. The "honest solution is a word that cannot be spoken: rationing," he argues, adding, "Our system already rations health care based on the individual's ability to pay." Likewise, insurance companies "ration some tests and procedures based on age, risk factors and what often seems like whim," Robinson writes. Such "ad hoc rationing doesn't work very well," he says, concluding that "nothing in any of the reform bills even tries to address the basic consensus that makes spending continue to rise: Put a lid on everybody else's costs, but don't touch mine" (Robinson, Washington Post, 11/24).

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