|
E-mail this page to a friend!
Older Women Lead In Avoiding Mammograms Due to Not
Understanding Insurance Coverage
May 9, 2005 - Researchers say a misunderstanding of
insurance coverage of breast cancer screening may cause many women,
especially older women with low incomes, to overestimate out of pocket
costs, and avoid getting mammograms. Women 65 years and older and women
earning less than $20,000 per year were significantly more likely to
misunderstand their insurance coverage of screening mammography, even
though it is covered by Medicare.
One of the most commonly reported barriers to
breast cancer screening--financial burden--may often be the result of
misperception, according to a new study appearing in the June 15, 2005
issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.
The study concludes screening utilization campaigns
should not only push for greater insurance coverage, but also educate
women about their own insurance coverage.
Medicare has covered annual screening mammograms
for all Medicare eligible women age 40 and over, and waived the Part B
deductible for screening mammography, since January 1, 1998. Consumers
pay 20% of the Medicare-approved amount with no Part B deductible.
For new digital technologies, Medicare
beneficiaries pay 20% of the Medicare-approved amount with no Part B
deductible, and a set co-payment amount as a hospital outpatient. As a
hospital outpatient, you must pay an annual $100 deductible for Part B
services and supplies before Medicare begins to pay its share, according
to the Medicare Website.
While breast cancer is one of the leading causes of
cancer and cancer death among women in the U.S., screening mammography
remains underutilized, particularly by women from low-income families.
Studies show about one in four women 40 and older have not had a
mammogram within the last two years. Nearly 40 percent of low income
women have never had a mammogram.
Barriers to screening have been often studied, with
cost identified as a dominant factor in women's screening decision.
However, few studies have investigated the relationship between actual
coverage and women's perception of coverage – and therefore, cost.
In a secondary analysis of baseline data from a
study designed to improve mammography screening, Ann Scheck McAlearney,
Sc.D. of Ohio State University in Columbus, and her research colleagues
examined responses from 897 women who needed a mammogram to further
characterize the cost barrier to screening.
They found that a lack of accurate knowledge of
coverage rather than actual costs deterred many women from screening.
More than 50 percent of participating women identified cost as a
screening barrier. Of these, 40 percent misunderstood their insurance
coverage of mammography, regardless of the type of insurance they had.
Those women who underestimated or had no knowledge of their insurance
coverage were also significantly more likely to identify cost as a
prohibitive factor in breast cancer screening.
Furthermore, age and income were factors predicting
poor understanding of insurance coverage.
The authors conclude that "these results suggest
that improving women's knowledge about the actual out-of-pocket costs
and insurance coverage for screening mammograms may reduce the overall
impact of cost as a barrier."
Source Article: "Perceptions of Insurance Coverage
for Screening Mammography among Women in Need of Screening," Ann Scheck
McAlearney, Katherine W. Reeves, Cathy Tatum, Electra D. Paskett,
CANCER; Published Online: May 9, 2005 (DOI: 10.1002/cncr.21068); Print
Issue Date: June 15, 2005.
Click to More Senior News on the
Front Page
Copyright: SeniorJournal.com |
