THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, April 10, 1996 TAG: 9604100001
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 46 lines
Last week Gov. George F. Allen signed into law two bills which could save women's lives in Virginia.
One requires that all health-insurance policies in the commonwealth provide coverage for annual PAP smears. The other requires coverage for mammograms - a base-line mammogram at age 35, a mammogram every other year after age 40 and an annual mammogram after age 50.
The laws go into effect July 1.
The American Cancer Society, which supported this legislation, reports that Virginia ranks 48th in the nation for the percent of women over 50 receiving regular mammograms. By including the screening tests in health-care coverage, the state has made these life-saving procedures more accessible to women.
Mammography is relatively costly: The American College of Radiology estimates that a mammogram costs between $65 and $125.
State Sen. Ken Stolle of Virginia Beach, who sponsored both bills, said the insurance industry estimated that premiums will rise from somewhere between 2 cents per month and $6.88 a month to cover the costs of mammograms. He said that insurance companies initially opposed the legislation, but later came to support it when they considered cost comparisons for the procedures and for cancer treatment.
In Virginia Beach, Mayor Meyera Oberndorf is recuperating from breast-cancer surgery last Friday. She announced her diagnosis several weeks ago hoping that by going public she could persuade other women not to put off their clinical breast exams and mammography or become complacent about this relatively common cancer.
The American Cancer Society reports good news about breast cancer: The five-year survival rate is 92 percent if the cancer has not spread, 71 percent if it has spread to nearby organs and 18 percent if it has spread throughout the body.
One way to catch breast cancer early is through mammography.
We wish Mayor Oberndorf a speedy and full recovery.
And we urge women to get regular mammograms and PAP smears. by CNB