November 18, 2009
Posted: November 18th, 2009 06:03 PM ET
From CNN's Lauren Kornreich
Sebelius: New guidelines are 'not coverage decisions'.
Washington (CNN) - Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius stressed Wednesday that government funded programs will continue to cover routine mammograms, despite a federal advisory board's recommendations that women in their 40s should not regularly get tested for breast cancer. "They are making recommendations, not coverage decisions, not payment decisions and the government payers have decided we will continue to cover both Medicare and Medicaid patients who have mammograms routinely," Sebelius told CNN's Wolf Blitzer. "We will continue to recommend it, and the health plans have indicated that they will do the same, if the health care provider recommends a mammogram for a patient, they intend to cover that payment." Earlier in the day, Sebelius addressed the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force's recommendation that women in their 40s not get routine mammograms, saying they "caused a great deal of confusion and worry." She emphasized again on CNN that they "don't make coverage decisions" and advised women to go to their doctors to decide when and how often to get mammograms. "What we know is that mammograms definitely save lives," Sebelius said. She added, "We want women to have a doctor, take the information, but then have that conversation about your own health history, what the risks are of having a mammogram versus the benefits and make a determination based on an informed decision." Filed under: Kathleen Sebelius White House
|
The latest political news from CNN's Best Political Team, with campaign coverage, 24-7. Sign up for our twice daily Ticker emails. Got a news tip or feedback? For complete political coverage, bookmark CNNPolitics.com. CNNPolitics.com Headlines
CNN=Politics Screensaver
New in the Ticker
@KuhnCNN: Great meeting @JackGrayCNN today and seeing @sinderbrandrcnn in NYC! AC Rock Stars! :-)
Updated: Tue, 09 Feb 2010 22:07:10 -0800 @KuhnCNN: Posted today: Clinton foreign trip first on Twitter. http://bit.ly/9Axuh9 /via @PoliticalTicker
Updated: Tue, 09 Feb 2010 20:36:14 -0800 @KuhnCNN: RT @octavianasrCNN: MUST-READ// Coaching tomorrow's world leaders, through social networking -- http://bit.ly/9tmW6x
Updated: Tue, 09 Feb 2010 20:32:51 -0800 @AWMooneyCNN: Metro finally comes and then stops at station for 20 minutes #snoverkill
Updated: Tue, 09 Feb 2010 19:46:27 -0800 @psteinhauserCNN: I just shoveled two feet of snow off the roof. That was fun!
Updated: Tue, 09 Feb 2010 18:14:34 -0800 Categories
Archive
Popular Posts
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Loading weather data ...