WASHINGTON – Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin announced today that people with Medicare will receive expanded coverage for screening tests for breast, cervical and colorectal cancers starting July 1st. In addition, the Congressman said that on January 1, 2002, Medicare will cover an annual glaucoma screening test and medical nutrition therapy by registered dieticians for people with diabetes and a renal disease.

Rep. Cardin noted that the new coverage is a result of provisions in the Beneficiary Improvements and Protection Act (BIPA), which passed in December 2000. The legislation calls for The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the agency formerly known as the Health Care Financing Administration, to phase in specific coverage for certain tests and therapies that can detect diseases early, when they are most easily treated or cured.

"I have long been an advocate of expanding Medicare coverage of preventive services. Through increasing the number of covered preventive benefits in the program, we can encourage beneficiaries to act before they get sick. By prevention and early detection, we can save lives and improve quality of life," said Rep. Cardin, who authored the law that first added coverage for preventive benefits to Medicare in 1997.

The new preventive services include the following:

•  Effective July 1, 2001, a Pap test and pelvic exam every two years instead of every three for women not at high risk for uterine or vaginal cancers. (Medicare covers these tests annually for women at high risk.);
• Effective July 1, 2001, a screening colonoscopy every 10 years for people not at high risk for colorectal cancer. (Medicare covers this test every two years for people at high risk.);
• Effective January 1, 2002, an annual glaucoma screening for people at high risk, a family history of the disease, or with diabetes;
• Effective January 1, 2002, medical nutrition therapy by registered dieticians or other qualified nutrition professionals for people with diabetes, chronic renal disease and post-transplant patients.

Other preventive services now covered by Medicare include:

• Four types of colorectal cancer screening tests including a yearly take-home fecal-occult blood test; a flexible sigmoidoscopy every four years; a colonoscopy every two years for high risk individuals, or a barium enema as an alternative to the colonoscopy or sigmoidoscopy;
• A baseline mammogram for women with Medicare aged 35 to 39;
• An annual mammogram for women with Medicare aged 40 and older;
• Bone mass measurements for people at risk for osteoporosis; * Prostate cancer screening exams for men with Medicare aged 50 and older. These exams include a digital rectal exam and a Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) test annually;
• A flu shot each season;
• A pneumonia shot if needed;
• A hepatitis B shot for people with medium to high risk for hepatitis.

By law, most of these preventive services require about a 20 percent co-pay of a Medicare-approved amount. Some, like the annual flu shot, and pneumonia shot when necessary, are free when given by doctors who accept Medicare assignment.

For more information on preventive services covered by Medicare, beneficiaries can visit the Medicare web site at www.medicare.gov or call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227). The TTY/TDD number is 1-877-486-2048. The information is also contained in the Medicare & You handbook, which will be mailed to all people with Medicare this fall.