Even as experts recommend #mammograms for women starting at 40, a federal court case could remove free coverage for most women: Expert available

A new draft recommendation about mammograms to screen for breast cancer in women, lowering the minimum age to 40, was just issued by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. If it becomes final, that means screening mammograms will be available without cost to even more women, under a provision of the Affordable Care Act that uses USPSTF as a key guide for preventive care.

But a court case currently winding its way to the Supreme Court, called Braidwood v. Becerra, could upend this free access for many women as well as no-cost access to many other preventive health services for women, men and children. 

Dr. Mark Fendrick, who heads the University of Michigan Center for Value-Based Insurance Design and is a general internist at Michigan Medicine, is following this case closely, as is his colleague Nicholas Bagley of the U-M Law School. 

They are available to comment on the background and potential impacts of the Braidwood case and a potential path to changing health policy so that the eventual verdict in the Braidwood case would not affect services recommended by USPSTF. 

Learn more: https://vbidcenter.org/05-23-newsletter/

The Association of Health Care Journalists is featuring Dr. Fendrick in a free webinar on May 10, and a recording will be available afterward: https://healthjournalism.org/calendar-details.php?id=2592&EventType=0&EventSubType=0&Topic=calendar