Cancer screening program out of money

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - A federally funded program that provides free cancer screenings for Rhode Island women without health insurance has run out of money until July.

Officials say demand for the Women's Cancer Screening Program has soared during the recession as more women lose their health insurance.

The program run by the state Health Department will not pay for mammograms, Pap smears, office visits and followup tests between Monday and July 1. When it resumes at the start of the new fiscal year, the program will screen patients only every other year, instead of annually.

According to the Health Department, the number of women obtaining cervical cancer screening through the program increased by more than 50 percent and the number of women obtaining mammograms increased 67 percent over the previous year.

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Information from: The Providence Journal