Fiscal impact reports (FIRs) are prepared by the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) for standing finance

committees of the NM Legislature. The LFC does not assume responsibility for the accuracy of these reports

if they are used for other purposes.

Current FIRs (in HTML & Adobe PDF formats) are a vailable on the NM Legislative Website (legis.state.nm.us).

Adobe PDF versions include all attachments, whereas HTML versions may not. Previously issued FIRs and

attachments may be obtained from the LFC in Suite 101 of the State Capitol Building North.

F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Gutierrez

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1/21/08 HB 35

SHORT TITLE

Breast & Cervical Cancer Screening

SB

ANALYST Wilson

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY08

FY09

$1,000.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Duplicates/Relates to an Appropriation in the General Appropriation Act: Both the LFC’s

Budget Request and the Executive Budget Recommendation include $500,000 for the Breast and

Cervical Cancer Program.

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Department of Health (DOH)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 35 appropriates $1,000,000 from the general fund to DOH for expenditure to fund

screening and treatment of breast cancer and cervical cancer.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $1,000,000 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund.

Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2009 shall revert

to the general fund.

The BCC Program is required by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to

provide a 1-to-3 match of other funds for each federal dollar. Funding allocated through this

legislation to the Breast and Cervical Cancer (BCC) Program will contribute to this match

requirement.

House Bill 35 – Page

2

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

Screening may detect cancerous conditions at early stages when treatment is most effective. Of

all cancers, cervical cancer is one of the most amenable to prevention and early detection through

screening. When women are diagnosed early through Pap tests, their five-year survival for local

stage cervical cancers is 88%. Survival drops sharply – to less than 50% – if the cancer has

spread by the time it is detected. Just over 40% of cervical cancers diagnosed in New Mexico

between 2000 and 2004 were local stage. The most effective strategy for detecting early-stage

breast cancer is undergoing a screening mammogram every one or two years beginning at age

40. Only slightly over 50% of all breast cancers diagnosed in New Mexico are detected at early

stages. In New Mexico, the five-year survival rate among women diagnosed with early-stage

breast cancer between 1999 and 2003 was 98 %. The survival rate fell to 81 % when the cancer

was detected at a regional stage, and 25% when detected at a distant stage.

The BCC Program provides screening and diagnosis for women ages 30 – 64 who are uninsured

or underinsured, and who live at or below 250% of the federal poverty level. Based on recent

analyses of census data 90,804 New Mexican women, between the ages of 30 and 64, are eligible

to receive services from the BCC Program. However, current federal and state funding levels are

sufficient to serve only about 15% of those eligible women. Last year, the BCC Program served

13,182 New Mexican women. The BCC Program does not provide treatment services, although

women diagnosed through the BCC Program are eligible for full Medicaid, Category 052, to pay

for medical services.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

The BCC Program can provide these services without additional FTEs. The BCC Program can

use its existing network to allocate additional funds beginning July 1, 2008.

RELATIONSHIP

Both the LFC’s Budget Request and the Executive Budget Recommendation include $500,000

for the Breast and Cervical Cancer Program.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUE

Differences in breast and cervical cancer screening rates in New Mexico are seen based on age,

race/ethnicity, health care coverage, educational attainment, and household income. Women

with health care coverage were almost twice as likely to report that they had a mammogram

within the past two years compared to women without coverage. Similarly, women whose

household income was under $15,000 annually were more than three times as likely to report

never having had a mammogram compared to women with incomes over $50,000 per year. For

cervical cancer screening, women without health care coverage were 2.5 times more likely to

report never having had a Pap test compared to women with coverage. Women reporting the

lowest household income levels reported either having never had a Pap test or not having had

one within the past five years, about twice as often as women reporting the highest income

levels.

DW/mt