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Insurers now required to cover many preventative health care screenings

This is also from the ATS newsletter. I'm just passing along as a point of information for anyone who might need it.


Administration Issues Rules Requiring Private Insurers to Cover Preventive Services

Also this week, as part of implementation of the Affordable Care Act, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Treasury issued new regulations to require private health plans to cover evidence-based preventive services at no cost to beneficiaries. The new rules stipulate that new health plans beginning on or after September 23, 2010, must cover preventive services ranked "A" or "B" by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Plans will be prohibited from charging co-pays, co-insurance or deductibles for eligible services.

Covered preventive services will include most cancer screenings, blood pressure and cholesterol tests, flu and pneumonia vaccinations for adults and children, tobacco screenings and tobacco cessation interventions, including counseling and medications. Covered preventive services for children will include those recommended by Health Resources and Services Administration and the American Academy of Pediatrics and will include developmental screenings for children under age 3; height, weight and body mass index measurements; lead screening; and tuberculosis skin test for children at risk for the disease. In 2011, Medicare will begin covering preventive services without cost-sharing.

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