Experts say breast cancer scans are normally free - but not if you have symptoms or are under 40 - Daily Mail

After one 36-year-old woman was charged nearly $18,000 for a breast cancer check-up, concerns have been raised over how much it should really cost.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in the United States — with 285,000 cases and 42,000 deaths a year — but if it is caught in the early stages almost every patient survives.

Experts say the screening test — a mammogram — is generally free for all women who are more than 40 years old and have health insurance.

But these may be significantly lower for some women depending on their health insurance plans and the amount of their deductible they have paid.

Some insurance plans - such as short term types - may not offer free breast cancer screenings.

The above graph shows new cases of breast cancer among women as a rate per 100,000 people (light green line) and the death rate (as a dark green line).

The above chart shows the age groups where women are most likely to have a breast cancer diagnosis.

Women who go for breast cancer screenings will initially be sent for a mammogram, where low-dose X-rays are fired into the breasts to check for unusual growths or troubling to the tissue.

Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world, and the second most common among women in the U.S?

Breast cancer develops from a cancerous cell which develops in the lining of a duct or lobule in one of the breasts.

Most cases develop in women over the age of 50, but younger women are sometimes affected.

Breast cancer can develop in men though this is rare.

Although breast cancer can develop for no apparent reason, there are some risk factors that can increase the chance of developing breast cancer, such as genetics.

Some hospitals are pushing 3D mammograms — which look at the sides of breasts as well as the tops and bottoms — but the American Cancer Society says there is no evidence that these are more likely to detect a cancer that would otherwise be missed.

health insurance program for poorer Americans with 88million users — offers the free scans in most states, but will not cover them for better-paid women living in areas that have not adopted the ACA expansion — such as Texas, Florida and Alabama. Medicare — which insures Americans over 65 years old — also offers the free scans. .

A spokeswoman for the American Cancer Society told DailyMail.com: 'Generally, all ACA compliant plans provide no-cost coverage for breast cancer screenings (and other preventive services) based on the U.S.

They said that those under a short-term plan or one from Christian Sharing Ministries — which offer cost sharing for their members — may not be able to get screened for the cancer for free.

Bai urged all women worried about having to fork out for a breast cancer scan to ask hospitals for their cash prices — which is almost always lower than that offered to insurance.

The team did not look at a biopsy for breast cancer, but Bai said the cost would likely be similar to biopsies done for other cancers such as bowel cancer.

Latest figures suggest that 76.4 percent of American women aged 50 to 74 years old are screened for breast cancer every year