On August 1, the Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS) Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) issued
detailed guidelines (http://www.hrsa.gov/womensguidelines/) for group health
plans and health insurance issuers relating to coverage of preventive services
under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). A fact sheet is
also available at the HealthCare.gov portal.
These guidelines supplement the
IFR on general preventive care requirements issued in July 2010 and have the
effect of expanding on the list of preventive health care services that must be
covered on a first dollar basis. Specifically, all non-grandfathered health
plans (both insured and self-insured plans) will need to include these services
without cost sharing for plan years beginning on or after August 1, 2012.
The guidelines specifically
address preventive health services that must be offered to women at no
additional cost, such as:
- 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; and
- Domestic
violence screening and counseling.
In related news, on August 1, the U.S. Treasury
Department, Department of Labor (DOL) and HHS released an amendment to the
original preventive care IFR, providing an exemption for “religious employers”
from the provisions of PPACA regarding coverage for contraceptive services for
women and sets forth a definition for “religious employer” for that purpose.
As
explained in background to the amendment, it “is intended to reasonably balance
the extension of any coverage of contraceptive services under the HRSA Guidelines
to as many women as possible, while respecting the unique relationship between
certain religious employers and their employees in certain religious
positions.”
The Obama Administration is
seeking comments on the amendment to the preventive care IFR amendment until 60
days after it is published in the Federal Register, expected within the next
several days, meaning that comments will be due in early October. (Source:National Business Coalition on Health;
American Benefits Council, August 2, 2011)