WASHINGTON (HHS) -- HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson today approved New Jersey's request to extend Medicaid benefits to uninsured women who are diagnosed with breast or cervical cancer through a federal screening program.

"Today's approval offers help, hope and health care to New Jersey women who otherwise would receive only a diagnosis that may sound like a death sentence," Secretary Thompson said. "Under this program, women who had no health coverage can now get immediate access to life-saving treatment through Medicaid."

New Jersey is the 33rd state to take advantage of the federal Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention and Treatment Act of 2000, which allowed states to expand Medicaid coverage to these women who otherwise would not have health coverage.

Under the law enacted last year, states can extend the full Medicaid benefit package to women who were screened through the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program run by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and found to need treatment for breast or cervical cancer. Since the CDC program began in 1990, more than 3 million breast and cervical cancer screening tests have been provided to more than 1.8 million women.

To qualify for Medicaid coverage under the program, women must be under age 65, not eligible for Medicaid and without creditable health care coverage. Under the law, these women can receive Medicaid benefits for the duration of their cancer treatment. States that choose to extend Medicaid benefits to women under this new option will receive a federal match of up to 85 percent of the costs of treatment.