ROCKFORD (WIFR) -- Skipping a mammogram can cost people their lives and more than 250 women in the Stateline are being forced to do just that.

The Winnebago County Health Department has been told to stop doing free mammograms as of this month for women in Winnebago, Boone, and Dekalb Counties because they have simply run out of money.

The Illinois Breast and Cervical Cancer Program was created to help women who don't have insurance or have been laid off and people who don't qualify for public aid who still can't afford the costs of mammograms.

By the end of January, 80 percent of the money had already been used. The Health Department says they won't be able to start offering free screenings again until July and by then some women will have been waiting for an entire year.

Carolyn Shelton said, "These are women who truly have no other source for their healthcare funding. So it just makes me sad because I hate to think that there is somebody out there that could have breast or cervical cancer and treatment's going to be delayed because we can't do what we need to do."

The Health Department says its funding hasn't been cut much since last year, it's just that the demand for services is higher than ever because women are no longer have health insurance.

Women who have symptoms of breast cancer or have had an abnormal mammogram in the past can still get a free screening and there is still money to help women who might already have cancer and need more tests.