Dear Valued Client,
On August 1, 2011, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced new guidelines that will ensure women receive preventive health services without cost sharing. Developed by the independent Institute of Medicine, the guidelines require new health insurance plans to cover a range of women’s preventive services without charging a co-payment, co-insurance or deductible, including:
-Well-woman visits
-Screening for gestational diabetes
-Human Papillomavirus (HPV) DNA testing for women 30 years and older
-Sexually-transmitted infection counseling
-Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) screening and counseling
-FDA-approved contraception methods and contraceptive counseling
-Breastfeeding support, supplies, and counseling
-Domestic violence screening and counseling
New health plans will need to include these services without cost sharing for insurance policies with plan years beginning on or after August 1, 2012.
An amendment to the guidelines was released to allow religious institutions that offer insurance to their employees the choice of whether or not to cover contraception. This regulation is modeled on the most common exemption available in the majority of the 28 states that already require insurance companies to cover contraception.
With the addition of these new guidelines, the Affordable Care Act – the health insurance reform legislation passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama on March 23, 2010 – continues to help make prevention affordable and accessible for more Americans.
For more information on the expansion of women’s preventive services, please visit www.hhs.gov.
For more information on the Affordable Care Act, please visit www.healthcare.gov.
Thank you.