Cancer screening for women

Breast cancer screening

AmeriHealth Caritas Louisiana encourages you to: 

• Do a breast self-exam every month. 
• A mammogram is an X-ray of your breasts. You should receive a mammogram every other year beginning at age 40. Your doctor may want you to get a mammogram earlier.  Talk to your doctor about whether it’s time to have a mammogram.

A mammogram and monthly self-exams can find breast cancer early. Cancer that is found early is easier to treat.

Make sure you:

• Talk to your doctor about when to get your mammogram
• Talk to your doctor or call Member Services about where to get your mammogram
• Get a prescription from your doctor to have your mammogram

You do not need a referral or prior authorization to get a mammogram. 

Cervical cancer screening

The number one way to prevent cervical cancer is to get a Pap test (cervical cancer screening) every year. You need a Pap test very year, starting at age 21. After age 30, if you've had normal test results, you can have a test every 2-3 years.

Want more information about cervical cancer screenings? Download and print one of our brochures below to read any time or to share with a friend.

• Cervical cancer screening for African American women (PDF)
• Cervical cancer screening for Latina women (PDF)
• Cervical cancer screening for white women (PDF)

Visit the member portal to learn more about women’s health.

Colorectal cancer screening 

Regular screening is one of the best ways to prevent colorectal cancer. Screening may help you find cancer even when you have no symptoms. You can even screen in the privacy of your own home.

If you have no family history of colorectal cancer, screening is recommended at 45 years of age. If you have a close family member who had colorectal cancer or polyps, talk to your doctor. You may need to begin screening before age 45.

Types of colorectal cancer screening tests

Stool tests

• The guaiac-based fecal occult blood test (gFOBT) uses the chemical guaiac to detect blood in the stool. It is done once a year. For this test, you receive a test kit from your health care provider. At home, you use a stick or brush to obtain a small amount of stool. You return the test kit to the doctor or a lab, where the stool samples are checked for the presence of blood.
• The fecal immunochemical test (FIT) uses antibodies to detect blood in the stool. It is also done once a year in the same way as a gFOBT.
• The FIT-DNA test (also referred to as the stool DNA test) combines the FIT with a test that detects altered DNA in the stool. For this test, you collect an entire bowel movement and send it to a lab, where it is checked for altered DNA and for the presence of blood. It is done once every three years.

Flexible sigmoidoscopy

For this test, the doctor puts a short, thin, flexible, lighted tube into your rectum. The doctor checks for polyps or cancer inside the rectum and lower third of the colon. Repeat every 5 years, or every 10 years with a FIT-DNA test every year.

Colonoscopy

The doctor uses a longer, thin, flexible, lighted tube to check for polyps or cancer inside the rectum and the entire colon. During the test, the doctor can find and remove most polyps and some cancers. Colonoscopy also is used as a follow-up test if anything unusual is found during one of the other screening tests.

How often: Every 10 years, for people who do not have an increased risk of colorectal cancer.

Computed tomography (CT) colonography (virtual colonoscopy)

Computed tomography (CT) colonography, also called a virtual colonoscopy, uses X-rays and computers to produce images of the entire colon, which are displayed on a computer screen for the doctor to analyze.

How often: Every 5 years.