8/1/11 HHS issued an interim rule regarding coverage of no-cost preventive health services for women in new private health plans in plan years starting on or after August 1, 2012. The guidelines, developed by the Institute of Medicine, require private health plans to cover women's preventive services such as well-woman visits, breastfeeding support, domestic violence screening, and contraception without charging a co-payment, co-insurance or a deductible.
The new guidelines exempt group health plans sponsored by certain religious employers and allow those religious institutions that offer insurance to their employees the choice of whether or not to cover contraception services.
The guidelines can be found at: www.hrsa.gov/womensguidelines/
More information on the HHS guidelines for expanding women's preventive services can be found at: http://www.healthcare.gov/news/factsheets/womensprevention08012011a.html
Comments are due on September 30, 2011.
Read the interim final rule which was published on August 3, 2011 at: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2011-08-03/pdf/2011-19684.pdf
The Institute of Medicine (IoM) was charged with recommending what preventive services must be covered without co-pays for patients by health plans under the ACA. The IoM recommended that birth control, breastfeeding support and domestic violence counseling all be covered by insurance without co-pays. The IoM recommendations, released on July 19, 2011, can be read at: IoM
Prior guidance can be viewed at www.healthcare.gov
News
8/1/11 Joel Ario, the HHS official who has overseen much the early stages of ACA implementation including the release of the health insurance exchange regulations, is leaving the agency. Ario is leaving his position as director of the Office of Health Insurance Exchanges at CCIIO. Although Ario will leave D.C. on August 26 and head to his home in Pennsylvania, he will continue to lead the department's exchange team until September 23. Steve Larsen, the Director of CCIIO (the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight) will work with Tim Hill, his deputy director who has also held several other positions within HHS, to lead the exchange development effort. Larsen and Hill intend to hire a state liaison to encourage each state to run its own exchange, rather than rely on a federally administered fallback.
HHS has not made a statement about where Ario will next work. Ario holds a Harvard Law degree and attended divinity school after finishing college. Previous to his time at HHS Ario organized and ran Public Interest Research Groups, which lobby for consumer interests. He then served as the top insurance regulator in Oregon from 2000 to 2007 and was Pennsylvania's insurance commissioner from 2007 to 2010.
Upcoming Events
Quarterly Stakeholder Meeting
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Implementation meeting
Monday October 17, 2011 from 11:00 A.M.-12:00 P.M.
1 Ashburton Place, 21st floor, Boston
Open Meeting
Integrating Medicare and Medicaid for Dual Eligible Individuals
August 31, 2011, 10 am- 12pm
Saxe Room, Worcester Public Library
Worcester, MA
Consumer Focused Meeting
Integrating Medicare and Medicaid for Dual Eligible Individuals
September 22, 2011, 1pm - 3pm
1 Ashburton Place, 11th Floor, Matta Conference Room
Boston, MA
