In case you haven’t heard… the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced recently that women may now receive preventive health services at no additional cost.

This means that we now have historic new guidelines that ensure that health insurance plans do not charge women a co-pay, co-insurance or deductible for critical health services like:

• Breastfeeding support, supplies and counseling;
• Domestic violence screening;
• Contraception;
• Mammograms;
• Pap tests;
• HIV screening and counseling, and more!

In a press release last week, HHS made this announcement, but also gave us a little context:

“Last summer, HHS released new insurance market rules under the Affordable Care Act requiring all new private health plans to cover several evidence-based preventive services like mammograms, colonoscopies, blood pressure checks, and childhood immunizations without charging a copayment, deductible or coinsurance. The Affordable Care Act also made recommended preventive services free for people on Medicare.”

But now, more progress has been made! Women now have greater access to preventive screening – making critical health services more accessible to a range women across the country. According to HHS, before these guidelines and before the Affordable Care Act (health reform), “too many Americans didn’t get the preventive health care they need to stay healthy, avoid or delay the onset of disease, lead productive lives, and reduce health care costs.  Often because of cost, Americans used preventive services at about half the recommended rate.” These new guidelines are pushing us in the right direction – more women will have access to screenings, which means that more women will get screened.

-Katie Barnett