Sage Screening Program

CT of Chest and Lungs

The Sage Screening Program (formerly MBCCCP) is a partnership between public health and the private health care system. The goal of the Sage Screening Program is to provide quality breast and cervical cancer screening, free of charge, to low and moderate income MN women age 40 and over who are uninsured or under insured.

The Sage Screening Program is designed to break down the barrier of cost so that all MN women are able to access breast and cervical cancer screening services. The program is funded with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under Breast and Cervical Cancer Mortality Prevention Act of 1990.

St. Francis Healthcare Campus
is a Sage Screening Program participant.

• Self-employed or farmers: use household net income (after business expenses).
• The Sage Screening Program recognizes that there are some situations where services are indicated in younger women. If a woman is determined by a clinician to be at elevated risk for breast cancer, Sage will cover her office visit and mammogram. If further follow-up is needed, the woman could also have a diagnostic mammogram, breast ultrasound, or out-patient breast biopsy.
• Under insured includes: Insurance that does not cover screening or insurance with unmet deductibles or co-payments. Women on Medicare where there are uncovered expenses associated with the visit, Pap, or mammogram. Women that are on either MN Care or Medical Assistance are not eligible for Sage Program because both cover these screening services.
• Must use a clinic or medical center that participates in the Sage Program.

What does the Sage Screening Program pay for?

Screening Services

The following services are free of charge to eligible women at participating facilities:

• Office visit for breast and/or cervical exam
• Pap Smear
• Screening mammogram (breast exam required)

Diagnostic Services

• Breast biopsy (with prior arrangement)
• Breast ultasound
• Colposcopy, including biopsy
• Diagnostic mammogram
• Endometrial Biopsy (when done as a follow-up for a Sage covered PAP with ASCUS results)
• Fine needle aspiration of breast lump, including pathology reading
• Office visit for breast or cervical services (e.g. for exam or results counseling)

Breast Cancer Screening Recommendations

The American Cancer Society (ACS) guidelines or the early detection of breast cancer in asymptomatic women are:

1. Women 20-39 should have a physical examination of the breast every three years, performed by a health care professional such as physician, physician assistant, nurse or nurse practitioner.
2. Women 30 years of age and older should perform breast self examination every month.
3. Women 40 years of age and older should have a mammogram every year.
4. Women 40 or older should have a physical examination of the breast every year, performed by a health care professional such as a physician, physician assistant, nurse or nurse practitioner.

Cervical Cancer Screening Recommendations

1. All women begin yearly Pap tests and pelvic examinations within 3 years of becoming sexually active, but no later than age 21.
2. If a woman over age 30 has had three satisfactory negative annual Pap tests in a row, this test may be done less often at the judgment of a woman's health care provider.

For more information about the program, go to www.health.state.mn.us or call 1-888-643-2584.