Starting August 1, 2012 there are many improvements for women  in Santa Monica for preventive services, which makes affordable health insurance more reachable.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued new guidelines on Women’s Preventive Health Services that require non-grandfathered group and individual health benefit plans and issuers to provide preventive services without cost sharing. This regulation applies to group health plans in the first plan year that begins on or after August 1, 2012.  Individual plans must provide these services without cost sharing by policy year after August 1, 2012.

These services include:

  • 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.

A complete listing of women’s preventive services is available at http://www.hrsa.gov/womensguidelines.

HHS released an amendment to the interim final rule (IFR) for preventive care under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that gives religious and/ or nonprofit organizations an option to exclude contraception coverage from their benefit plan(s).  This exemption only applies to group health plans and is not available to policyholders of individual plans.  Note: Health Net will require groups requesting an exemption to sign a certification form to attest that they meet the federal government’s definition of a religious/ nonprofit employer group.

These new preventive health measures  for women support  affordable health insurance  in  Santa Monica for a free health insurance quote please contact us Solid Health Insurance Services.