Side Effects: How Government Micromanagement Could Discourage Access to Some Preventive Services

Kathryn Nix / October 14, 2010

A recent letter from the Congressional Research Service (CRS) reveals how Obamacare will erode patients’ access to certain preventive services.

The new health care law requires insurers to cover all preventive measures rated “A” or “B” by the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) with zero cost-sharing. Otherwise, “a plan or issuer has the discretion to either cover or not cover additional preventive services not recommended by the USPSTF,” according to the CRS letter.

While many of the more specific task force recommendations are already included in most health plans, some are less clear cut. Before the passage of the new law, Heritage expert Ed Haislmaier wrote that turning these general recommendations into requirements means the “HHS would need to draft and promulgate regulations detailing the type, scope, frequency, and duration of the specific services that must be covered—along with rules on which providers must be paid for providing which services, and the criteria under which specific patients qualify for specific services.” (more…)