Almost 63% of uninsured Texas adults report they have no personal doctor (the fourth highest rate in the nation). Approximately 45% cannot afford to see a doctor when needed (the seventh highest rate in the U.S.).*

However, people who are medically underserved, that is, those with low incomes and no health insurance or less than full and affordable health care coverage, are less likely to have regular access to a health care provider and more likely to lack the necessary resources to obtain annual cancer screening. As a result, they bear an unequal burden of cancer, and this disparity often translates into later diagnosis and, in some cases, lower chances of survival.

Texas has the highest uninsured rate in the nation, with approximately 25% of its residents lacking medical insurance. Locally, almost twenty-five (25%) percent of Jefferson County adults and approximately twenty-two (22%) percent of Orange and Hardin County adults are uninsured, with scores of other Southeast Texans underinsured (having low incomes and insurance coverage requiring co-pay amounts or deductibles that would make cancer screening cost-prohibitive).

Through the provision of free cancer screenings, the "Gift of Life" makes available potentially lifesaving tests and exams that medically underserved clients would otherwise be unable to afford, equalizing access to early detection tools.

To find out more about free mammograms, click here.

To find out more about free prostate cancer screenings, click here.

To find out more about follow-up medical care, click here.


*Robert Wood Johnson Foundation