The often confusing and scary world that accompanies a breast cancer diagnosis is about to get a little easier.

Gov. Pat Quinn approved a law aimed at reducing the disparity experienced by poor, immigrant and minority women as they seek treatment and payment options.

The law increases Medicaid reimbursements for mammograms and screenings and gives Medicaid providers bonus payments for using best practice screening and treatments. It also pushes for more awareness and education for at-risk women.

In addition, it requires insurers to cover pain medication for women receiving treatment and gives women easier access to screenings.

The law, approved Friday, establishes two pilot navigator programs in Illinois. Trained professionals will work with patients struggling with treatment, bills and paperwork and the emotions that come with fighting breast cancer. One center will be in a Chicago hospital, while the other will be in a rural hospital.

Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago) introduced the bill in February after he learned that breast cancer kills minority women at a rate 68 percent higher than white women. That finding came out in a study provided by the Metropolitan Chicago Breast Cancer Task Force in October 2007.

“Finding this disease in its early stages is the difference between life and death,” Harris says. “We need to work together to make these services are as available to as many people as possible to ensure that all women, regardless of race or social status, are covered and receive the health care services they deserve.”

The law doesn’t have a price tag as it is being rolled into an ongoing screening program already in place.

Harris also says that it could potentially pay for itself because the state would spend less for treatment by catching breast cancer in its early stages, rather than paying for treatment for late-stage cancer.