Access in Brief: Use of Cervical, Breast, and Colon Cancer Tests among Adult Medicaid Enrollees

Most state Medicaid programs cover cervical, breast and colon cancer. In general, while adults enrolled in Medicaid reported lower rates of cancer screening than adults with private coverage, women with Medicaid coverage were as or more likely to get certain cancer screenings such as Pap smears as women with private coverage. Among women age 50–64 with incomes greater than 138 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL), those with Medicaid coverage were in general less likely than those with private insurance to receive a mammogram; among Medicaid-covered women in the same age range with incomes below 138 FPL, mammography rates were more similar between the insurance groups.