EVERETT—Everett-based Citrine Health is launching the Washington Health Screening Fund to help pay for breast and cervical cancer screenings for uninsured and underinsured residents across Washington. The effort is to counter reductions in federal support for the state’s Breast, Cervical and Colon Health Program, which the Department of Health has run for 35 years, and which now faces the risk of running out of money in the coming months.
Roughly 87 percent of the program’s funding comes from a federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention award. That award for 2026 is about $4 million, $1 million less than two years earlier. The program has lost 20 percent of its funding in the past two years and 60 percent since its peak, while more than $3 million in supplemental federal and state support has expired. State officials have used limited carryforward resources to preserve services so far, but those options are narrowing.
Kerri Mallams, Citrine Health’s executive director, said the organization could serve more than 2,000 women a decade ago. This year it has resources for about 870, and more than 700 people are already enrolled. Enrollment has risen as people lose coverage; more than 400,000 Washington residents lack insurance, and millions more face high out-of-pocket costs that make them effectively underinsured.
Nearly 1,000 women in the state die from breast cancer each year. Only 64 percent of Washington women ages 40 and older received a mammogram from 2021 to 2022, placing the state among the 10 lowest nationally for screening. Washington also ranks 43rd for cervical cancer screening rates. Early detection improves survival and lowers long-term treatment costs, yet uninsured or underinsured patients often cannot afford the exams.
“As an organization that has been committed to serving women locally for three decades, we felt it was our duty to make sure these free screenings continue to save lives, during these challenging times,” Mallams said. “We look forward to building a network of donors in Washington who believe in this mission.”
Citrine Health is one of the regional prime contractors that help deliver the state program and is the only nonprofit among them, which allowed it to create the private fund. Donations can be made at www.citrinehealth.org/screening-fund. Money will go directly toward covering screening costs so patients can get mammograms, Pap tests and related care without those expenses blocking access.
Megan Kalsen, Citrine Health board president, said a woman’s ability to take care of her health should not be restricted by an inability to afford insurance. “These life-saving screenings should be available to any woman who wants them.”
The Snohomish County-based 501(c)(3) organization, formed about 30 years ago, serves thousands of people each year in Island, King, San Juan, Skagit, Snohomish and Whatcom counties by connecting women and their families to health and wellness resources. The new fund is intended to sustain that work statewide as federal support for the existing program declines.
Author: Lynnwood Times Staff
