Benefits | Cervical Cancer Interventions

Health benefits to support cervical cancer screening¹

Employee health benefits are part of an overall compensation package and affect an employee’s willingness to seek preventive services and clinical care.

Provide coverage for clinical preventive services such as cervical cancer screening

• Cervical cancer screening is a valuable early detection tool that can identify cancer at an early stage, when treatment is more effective and less expensive
• In addition to cervical cancer screening, coverage for younger women should include immunization with the human papillomavirus vaccine (HPV) in accordance with recommendations by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). The recommended ages to receive the vaccine are 11-12 years (3-dose series with the second and third doses administered 2 and 6 months after the first dose). However, catch-up vaccination is recommended for females up to 26 years who have not been previously vaccinated. Vaccination is not a substitute for routine cervical cancer screening, and vaccinated females should have cervical cancer screening as recommended
• Benefit packages should include personal reminders to employees regarding their due dates for screening
• Any cancer screening program must include a plan for following up women with a positive reading and referring them to clinical evaluation. It is an ethical standard widely accepted in the medical and public health community that screening programs should always be linked to a follow-up education, referral, and treatment plan

Require health plans to send reminders to both employee members and providers about cervical cancer screening

• Employee and provider reminders tell people that it is time to schedule a Pap test or that they are late (recall) for a recommended screening
• Employee reminders can be mailed as a letter or postcard or communicated as part of a telephone call
• Additional information about the health benefits of the screening, strategies to overcome barriers to screening and assistance with scheduling a screening test can also be included as part of the reminder