Medicare Reimbursement of Mammography

MEDICARE REIMBURSEMENT OF MAMMOGRAPHY

    Ms. MIKULSKI. Madam President, I rise to state for the record my strong support of Senator HARKIN'S amendment to the Medicare prescription drug bill (S. 1) to increase Medicare reimbursement for mammorgrams. I am a proud cosponsor of this amendment. I am pleased that Senator GRASSLEY and Senator BAUCUS agreed to include it in the Medicare prescription drug legislation that passed the Senate earlier today. Americans must have access to mammography because it is an important tool to screen and detect breast cancer.

    It is vital for Medicare beneficiaries to have access to mammography. A woman's risk of having breast cancer increases with age. A woman's chance of getting breast cancer is 1 out of 2,212 by age 30. This increases to 1 out of 23 by age 60 and 1 out of 10 by age 80. More than 85 percent of breast cancers occur in women over the age of 50. There will be 70 million Americans aged 65 and over in 2030. At the same time about 700 mammography facilities have closed nationwide over the last 2 years. Adequate reimbursement is essential to help ensure that women have access to this important screening tool. This amendment will increase Medicare reimbursement for mammograms. This amendment is also an important step to help radiologists enter and remain in the field of mammography by providing more adequate reimbursement. Mammography is not perfect, but it is the best tool we have now.

    I have long fought to ensure that Medicare beneficiaries have access to mammography. I cosponsored the Assure Access to Mammography Act, S. 869, that would increase Medicare reimbursement for mammograms. It would also increase the number of radiologists by increasing Medicare graduate medical education, GME, to provide three additional radiologists in each teaching hospital. In 1990, I introduced the Medicare Screening Mammography Amendments of 1990 to provide Medicare coverage of annual screening mammography. My legislation was included in the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990. Before that, Medicare did not cover routine annual screening mammograms. Additional legislation since then has expanded access to mammography for Medicare beneficiaries. I will continue to fight to ensure that women have access to quality mammography, and I urge that the final version of the Medicare prescription drug bill include provisions to increase Medicare reimbursement for mammograms.