Battling Breast Cancer While Battling Insurance

For example, a recent survey in the Detroit metro area found that the costs of mammograms ranged from $232 to $628. Higher-end mammograms tend to be of the newer digital variety (conducted with advanced technology and carrying some added benefits), while lower-cost exams are performed on standard film-screen technology. Many radiologists affirm that digital exams are a more effective screening tool for women who have not undergone menopause because their breast tissue is typically denser and therefore more difficult to visualize with standard film-screen mammograms.

Dr. Mark Segel, medical director of mammography at Henry Ford Macomb Hospital, says, "For finding invasive breast cancer — tumors that are considered the deadliest — there's no question that for every age woman, digital mammography is better."


Apart from the differences in technology, other factors play roles in the cost of a mammogram. For one thing, the cost of any medical test depends heavily on demand. Henry Ford Health System's director of reimbursement, Michele Corey, notes that many of the mammography centers in Michigan's Wayne County have lowered their prices for film-screen mammograms because of a demand increase in recent years.

With healthcare costs rising at record rates and an increasing number of insurance companies and employers offering fewer benefits, many women have chosen simply to forgo screening. Naturally, this is distressing to healthcare professionals who continue to advocate that the mammogram is the gold standard in breast cancer detection and that (it cannot be said enough) early detection is prevention.

National surveys on the number of women receiving yearly mammograms demonstrate discouraging trends. In 2006, 79.9% of Michigan women were screened for breast cancer, down from the all-time high of 81.7% in 2000, according to the Cancer Society. Though the decrease is only 1.8%, it represents many thousands of lives potentially affected by cancer. Nationally, the data is even more troublesome: mammography use fell from 70% in 2000 to 66% in 2005 according to the June 15 issue of Cancer, representing millions of women electing not to be screened.

Despite some recent good news in the battle against breast cancer (the decades-long rise in cancer rates appears to be leveling off, though many experts question whether this is a new trend or a temporary aberration), any increase in the number of women choosing not to get screened is troublesome and could easily lead to another spike in cancer rates. Breast cancer remains the most common cancer in women and is second among the top five killers of American women after heart disease (osteoporosis, depression, and autoimmune diseases follow in order).

And so the final word is that while it pays for women to shop around for mammograms, it behooves employers and insurance companies to both offer and maintain comprehensive coverage of the cost of breast cancer detection exams, especially in light of the fact that more and more women are putting their health at risk by not getting screened.