Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius says federal policy on who should get breast cancer screening has not changed.

Sebelius issued a statement Wednesday to ease confusion over a government panel's recommendation on Monday that said most women don't need mammograms in their 40s and should get one every two years starting at 50. That recommendation was a break with the American Cancer Society's long-standing position that women should get screening mammograms starting at age 40.

The task force does "not set federal policy and they don't determine what services are covered by the federal government," Sebelius said.

Sebelius called mammograms "an important lifesaving tool." She said women should "keep doing what you have been doing for years."