Shaheen, Marshall Applaud U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Announcement in Line with Their Call to Protect, Enhance Access to Cervical Cancer Screenings
**Shaheen and Marshall led a bipartisan letter in February urging the administration to renew its efforts to increase cervical cancer screening rates**
(Washington, DC) – U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Roger Marshall (R-KS) applauded the new cancer screening guidelines released today by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) that aligns with the Senators’ request to preserve access to regular cancer screenings.
In February, Senators Shaheen and Marshall led a letter to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra urging the agency to maintain access to cervical cancer screenings and preserve existing guidelines given data that shows rates increasing in women under 50 in recent years, particularly in rural and underserved communities. USPSTF recognized those same trends and chose to maintain existing guidelines, previously published in 2018, for both cervical cancer and human papillomavirus (HPV).
“The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force saw the same worrisome trends we did: women of color and those living in rural areas are disproportionately impacted by a lack of access to screening and therefore more likely to have undiagnosed, untreated cervical cancer. I’m glad the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force agreed with our assessment and acted in response to our request to protect access to life-saving cervical cancer screenings for women under 50,” said Senator Shaheen.
“As an OB/GYN, the recent rise in cervical cancer among women under 50 is deeply troubling. What is behind this trend must be researched further, but what we can do right now is expand screening to catch cervical cancer earlier,” Senator Marshall said. “I’m glad to see the HHS take our bipartisan recommendation seriously and increase these lifesaving screening services.”
Senator Shaheen has a history of working across the aisle to increase access to preventative screenings. Last year, Shaheen reintroduced her bipartisan Access to Breast Cancer Diagnosis (ABCD) Act to make breast cancer diagnostic tests more accessible and affordable by eliminating copays and other out-of-pocket expenses for these diagnostic tests. The Senator introduced the Protecting Access to Lifesaving Screenings (PALS) Act of 2019 with a bipartisan group of lawmakers. The bipartisan legislation would postpone recommendations from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) that would limit access to breast cancer screenings for women in their 40s. In January 2020, in response to a bipartisan call from Shaheen and former U.S. Senator Martha McSally (R-AZ) – and following the introduction of their bipartisan legislation to address the issue – the Department of Defense agreed to expand TRICARE coverage to include 3D mammography, which is the most effective breast cancer screening option.
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