The number of women getting breast and cervical cancer screenings at the Flathead City-County Health Department has dropped over the past year because more women are tapping into the federal Affordable Care Act.

“We are seeing a decrease in our screening numbers due to more women having insurance with a wellness benefit to cover screening costs since the passage of the Affordable Care Act,” said Leslie Diede, health promotion coordinator for the Health Department.

In fiscal year 2014 — from July 1, 2013, through June 30, 2014 — the Health Department screed 853 women, exceeding its goal of 850 screenings. During the latest fiscal year, from July 1, 2014, through June 30, 2015, 711 women were screened, just 84 percent of the 850 screening goal.

There was a dramatic difference in the number of abnormal breast screening results between the two years, with 38 abnormal results found in fiscal year 2014 and 190 found in fiscal year 2015. The reason for the spike has to do with how the Health Department classifies the imaging data.

“We started classifying one type of result that hadn’t been classified before,” Diede said, explaining that the change resulted in further imaging for a larger number of women.

Goals for the number of women screened are set by the state of Montana based on population, Diede said.

Flathead County has one of the highest rates of breast and cervical screening because of the Health Department’s aggressive approach to outreach, she said.

“We are the only Health Department with an internal goal for new patients to the program versus re-enrollment patients,” she said. “Our goal is 50-50 and we meet that.”

Outreach varies throughout the year. Sometimes county health workers meet one-on-one with health-care providers.

“Sometimes we sit at Walmart on a busy day,” Diede said.

The goal is to identify low-income women who qualify for the free screenings. Those qualifying live at 200 percent of the federal poverty level. If a woman meets that income benchmark, the breast and cervical screenings are free.

Patients are able to choose their provider for the screenings, and then can “stick with their doctor if they have one” if any sort of treatment is required.

If a woman needs treatment, the state has a Medicaid fund that pays for that treatment, Diede said.

“We work to get patients signed up for that fund and then all bills are paid for 100 percent,” she said.

For more information about the cancer screening program offered through the Flathead City-County Health Department, call 751-8107, email ldiede@flathead.mt.gov, or go online to http://flatheadhealth.org.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.