On July 14, the Obama administration unveiled new rules requiring health insurers to provide certain preventive services — such as screenings and laboratory tests — without cost-sharing by patients.
The federal health reform law called for the creation of the new requirements, which will eliminate copayments, deductibles and other out-of-pocket charges for tests and screenings recommended by various government advisory bodies.
In a California Healthline Special Report by Kelly Wilkinson, state and national experts discussed the new rules on preventive care coverage.
The Special Report includes comments from:
- Ned Calonge, chair of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force;
- Tom Hubbard, senior program director at the New England Healthcare Institute; and
- Jerry Kominski, professor at the UCLA School of Public Health.
In addition to removing cost barriers to preventive care, the new regulations are expected to elevate the prominence of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (Wilkinson, California Healthline, 8/11).
The complete transcript of this Special Report is available as a PDF.