(WOMENSENEWS)–In a New Year’s warning, New Jersey radiologists said that women in their state often have to wait several weeks to receive critical mammograms because radiology centers cannot afford to perform them–reimbursement is said to be unprofitably low. Insurance companies pay too little for the exam that screens for breast cancer and hospitals that once considered expanding hours or mammogram services have not done so because the amounts paid are so low, said Lawrence Swayne, president of the New Jersey Radiological Society, in a statement on Dec. 27. In recent years, New Jersey women have had the highest rates of breast cancer and the lowest rates of mammograms among the elderly in comparison with residents of other states, according to published reports.
