Senate Joint Resolution No. 8

Introduced By estrada, franklin, bartlett, brooke, benedict, baer, ahner, miller, gillan, nelson, schmidt, bookout-reinicke, barnhart, tuss, mohl, eck, jenkins, sands, kottel, hargrove, devlin, cole, emerson, waterman, gage, burnett, van valkenburg, swysgood, lynch, beck, thomas, m. taylor, jergeson, depratu, mcnutt, mahlum, mccarthy, keating, harp



A Joint Resolution of the Senate and the House of Representatives of the state of Montana urging Congress and the United States Department of Health and Human Services to provide annual screening mammograms for women who qualify for Medicare.



WHEREAS, breast cancer is second only to lung cancer as a cause of cancer death among all women and the second cause of cancer death for women who are 55 to 74 years of age; and

WHEREAS, 78% of women with breast cancer are over 50 years of age; and

WHEREAS, breast cancer mortality declined 5% between 1989 and 1993 and increased mammography is cited as one of the reasons for the decline in the death rate; and

WHEREAS, in 1990, Medicare, the federal health insurance program for the elderly and disabled, began covering screening mammograms every 2 years for women beneficiaries over 65 years of age; and

WHEREAS, Montana insurance provisions and Medicaid coverage allow baseline mammograms for women who are 35 years of age and under 40 years of age, a mammogram every 2 years for women who are 40 years of age and under 50 years of age, and a mammogram each year for women who are 50 years of age or older; and

WHEREAS, women who are 65 years of age or older who are Medicare beneficiaries should have coverage for annual mammograms to allow for early detection and subsequent treatment of breast cancer to prevent premature deaths from breast cancer.



NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE AND THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:

That the Congress of the United States should change coverage requirements for Medicare to allow women over 65 years of age to receive annual mammogram screening.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that copies of this resolution will be sent by the Secretary of State, to the Montana Congressional Delegation, to the Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, and to the Administrator of the Health Care Financing Administration.

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