PP doesn’t provide mammograms at their centers.
Despite their claims that they “provide” the service by giving referrals to other facilities, and by helping with financial aid or information about such aid, our own research has shown this wasn’t true.
Back around 2015, there was a major kerfuffle as the Susan G. Komen Foundation, an organization focused on breast cancer, tried to stop giving funds to Planned Parenthood. PP’s supporters threw a fit. So the foundation put PP on its list of mammogram referrals, stating clearly that PP only referred and didn’t do them. Even this much has apparently been later removed, and they no longer mention PP.
In April, 2021, we did a study calling PP centers and asking where they referred for mammograms. This included exactly 50 centers in 11 states, nicely geographically distributed, making a good sample size.
Results:
No referral given at all, period = 15 / 30%
Wouldn’t give without an exam, which must be paid for = 8 / 16%
Wanted an exam but got talked into giving it out over the phone = 9 / 18 %
Got at least one place referred = 23 / 46%
In addition:
Trouble calling – either never answered or needed call back or serious runaround = 13 / 26%
Many stumbled to find the referral, even when happy to give it. That probably means they’re not asked for the information very often. In one case, it took our volunteer 40 minutes to get information she could have googled in 2 minutes.
Financial assistance was never brought up by anyone at PP (though we didn’t ask).
So we can say not only that Planned Parenthood doesn’t do mammograms, but despite their claims, it doesn’t do much by way of mammogram referrals, either.
Helping Women on Mammograms
You can do a web search, since local imaging centers are generally easy to find, and their web page may tell you if they’re sensitive to the needs of low-income women. When we find out that CHCs or similar health centers do mammograms, we add that information to our list of local alternatives for each PP center.
Though the Fact Check confirms PP doesn’t do mammograms at its centers, it does have this sentence: “Individual clinics sometimes provide more than referrals, arranging for mobile mammography vans.” No numbers of how many are given, and the link goes to a page that no longer exists. This is why we refer to zero mammograms at their centers, for strict accuracy’s sake. Local activists may want to double-check that their own PP centers aren’t arranging such vans before publicly asserting that their PP does none at all.
Also find out where PP sends women for financial aid to get mammograms – if they do. Check this out as a lead, so you’re familiar with details, and can use those details when you’re trying to convince referrers to use your information instead of PP’s.
Here’s information we have so far on helping to swing the finances:
Medicare, Medicaid, and most insurance companies cover the cost of mammograms. Since September 2010, the Affordable Care Act has required all new health insurance plans to cover yearly mammograms with no out-of-pocket costs for women ages 40+.
The Breast and Cervical Cancer Program (BCCP) has federal money parceled out to individual states to do cancer screenings and treatment for low-income women; some states add additional funds. Each state differs in its rules.
If PP has signed up for referrals, they’ll be on the referral list, along with CHCs and other doctors. Some states require women to get a breast exam and pap smear before the mammogram — PP does provide those, and so gets referrals that way.
You can check the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program of the Centers for Disease Control. This program lists centers providing free or low-cost mammograms. Their listings are rather limited, but you might find a good place in your area.
The Komen Breast Care Helpline offers information on low-cost options: 877-465-6636, Monday-Friday from 9:00 am to 10:00 pm Eastern Time.
Komen has a strong connection to PP that may make PP opponents uneasy with working with them on projects, but merely obtaining information from them that’s then investigated further can be part of your thorough research.
Each October, during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, many imaging centers offer mammograms at reduced rates. Contact them to find out if they’ll do so this year. That information will be of interest to those referring for mammograms.
Then, the Action
If done right, getting information to referrers can be presented as doing them a favor, since of course they want the best for their clients. They can refer clients straight to the place that actually does the mammograms, rather than inefficiently referring them to PP, only to then be referred on by PP to the actual service.
Who refers for mammograms?
- Health clinics of all kinds
- campus health centers for older students and for faculty
- volunteers and groups working on breast cancer awareness
- the local branch of the American Cancer Society
These can all offer leads for other referrers as well, along with a web search for “breast cancer awareness” in your own area.
Once you have leads, going to a possible place and simply asking if they refer for mammograms should be a quick way of finding out if they do. It’s also a quick way of finding out if they refer to PP and need to be educated about local alternatives.
Graphic from video by And Then There were None, and the Radiance Foundation: Care Le$$, No Matter What.
Other Cancer Screenings
The research methods discussed above also apply to breast exams and pap smears. However, PP does provide those in their centers.
Therefore, making a case for referring women elsewhere for these cancer screenings requires more research into how an alternative place is better than PP. While our view may be that any place is better than PP, the referring facilities might not share our view.
A price difference is good enough. Accurate photos of the cleanliness of the waiting room will also do, and accurate documents on medical malpractice or health citations of PP compared to the alternative center may prove quite effective.