WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Senate has advanced a measure led by U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) that would allocate $10 million toward mobile mammography services for women veterans. The amendment will now be included in this year’s Senate version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

“Access to breast cancer screenings saves lives, but many female veterans often have to wait months, drive far distances, or run into barriers when they need a mammogram,” said Senator Blackburn. “With the passage of this amendment, we are ensuring that the women who have served our nation have greater access to regular mammograms — a critical component of their care." 

“Women veterans have risked so much to protect our country, including their health, and these heroes deserve access to the best medical services,” said Senator Rosen. “I’m proud to work in a bipartisan way to increase access to quality mammography services and cancer screenings for our veterans.”

Background:

• According to the VA, in 2020, there were more than 47,000 female veterans in Tennessee.
• Breast cancer is a leading cancer for American women. In the United States, over 40,000 women lose their lives to breast cancer every year.
• According to a recent National Library of Medicine study, women veterans were nearly 3 times more likely to develop breast cancer than the rest of the population.
• Blackburn’s measure authorizes $10 million for the Office of Women’s Health within the Department of Veterans Affairs to be used to expand access for women veterans to mobile mammography initiatives, advanced mammography equipment, and outreach activities to publicize those initiatives and equipment.

The amendment can be found here.