Lawmakers Move to Expand WISEWOMAN Program
Lawmakers Move to Expand WISEWOMAN Program
- Increase health screening for low-income, uninsured women -
U.S. Representatives Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and James Leach (R-IA) today introduced bipartisan legislation to expand the Center for Disease Control's WISEWOMAN (Well-Integrated Screening and Evaluation for Women Across the Nation) program to all states. The legislation would also expand services to include additional screening and preventive care services.
WISEWOMAN is a demonstration project that is currently operated by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 14 states, including Connecticut and Iowa. The program provides low income, uninsured women with screening and other preventive care for cardiovascular diseases. Already, more than 26,000 women have been served through the program.
"The benefits of WISEWOMAN are evident in the 14 states the program currently operates - it has helped thousands of financially disadvantaged women decrease their risk for preventable chronic disease," said DeLauro. "Think of how many additional women we can reach when this program is expanded to all 50 states, increasing access to preventive health services to help women stay healthy, avoid disease, and save lives."
"This legislation will enable all 50 states to expand health services to uninsured and under insured women," Leach said. "In addition to preventive services, they'll have access to screening for such diseases as diabetes and osteoporosis, conditions that take a particularly heavy toll on women over the age of 50."
The WISEWOMAN Expansion Act would:
*Allow the CDC to expand the current WISEWOMAN demonstration project to additional states, tribal organizations and territories;
*Authorize funding to carry out this program at a level of $20 million for the fiscal year 2006, $25 million for fiscal year 2007, for $30 million for fiscal year 2008, and "such sums" as necessary in subsequent years;
*Add flexibility to the program language that would allow screenings and other preventive measures for diseases in addition to cardiovascular diseases, such as diabetes and osteoporosis;
*Allow flexibility for the WISEWOMAN program to grow and adapt with the needs of individual states; and
*Ensure full collaboration of the WISEWOMAN program with the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (NBCCEDP). WISEWOMAN programs are "sister" programs with NBCCEDP programs, with women who come in for breast and cervical cancer screening also able to access additional preventive screenings through WISEWOMAN.
For more information on the WISEWOMAN program, click here: http://www.cdc.gov/wisewoman/.
http://www.house.gov/delauro/press/2005/June/WISEWOMAN_intro_06_28_05.html