SACRAMENTO – California lost $2.65 million in federal funding to offer free breast and cervical cancer screening for uninsured women because the state failed to report data on the program.
The federal government suspended the funding because the state Department of Health Services did not correctly collect data it was required to report to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Kevin Reilly, the department’s deputy director of prevention services.
“It is true that we need to improve our data collection to be more comprehensive,” Reilly said. “We’re attempting to improve that system right now.”
Each year, about 270,000 women receive testing through the “Every Woman Counts” program, which was started more than a decade ago.
State officials initially thought they would have to suspend the cervical cancer screenings and sent a letter to clinics advising them of that.
But the department said Friday it would fund the program through the state’s tobacco tax settlement, and health providers would be able to continue offering cancer screening without interruption.
Sen. Denise Ducheny, D-San Diego, chair of the Senate budget subcommittee on health and human services, said it wasn’t enough to replace the lost federal grant with state money.
“I want my federal dollars back,” she said. “They ought to be able to comply with federal directives.”
