News Archives
January 11, 2012
Promoting Women’s and Family Health through HPV Vaccination
January is Cervical Cancer Awareness Month, and we would like to take this opportunity to remind you that cervical cancer is a disease that is close to 100% preventable through regular screenings and the HPV vaccination. Despite the ability to prevent cervical cancer, vaccination rates for the HPV virus continue to lag behind other common vaccines.
Most union health plans cover the procedures to prevent cervical cancer, and we urge you to check whether or not you and your members are covered. If you are covered, we urge you to remind your members about their cervical cancer prevention benefits. If you are not covered however, we encourage you to consider adding this as a benefit to your plan.
Some union health plans that cover the HPV vaccine will include coverage for pharmacist-administered HPV vaccinations. New Jersey is one of over 40 states which allow pharmacists to administer the HPV vaccine. That being the case, we would encourage you to consider the procedure for yourself and eligible dependents after consulting with a health care professional. For union health plans that have the HPV vaccine as a medical benefit we would like to inform you that it is cost neutral to add the vaccine as a pharmacy benefit.
Additionally, we urge you to check to see if your plans cover the CDC-approved combination HPV and Pap tests for women 30 and over. The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends that most women aged 30 and older with normal Pap and human papillomavirus (HPV) test results can safely wait three years until their next set of cervical cancer screening tests.
We thank Senator Robert Menendez for sending an informative statement emphasizing the importance of preventative measures with regard to cervical cancer. His statement can be found HERE.
We respect that this is a personal decision and hope that you find this information useful in promoting the health of you and your family.