The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has finally cleared up the confusion surrounding what was and wasn’t guaranteed under the Affordable Care Act in relation to FDA-approved contraceptives, physician recommended sex-specific services, ect. They now ensure:
- Access to all the FDA approved contraceptive methods such as barrier, hormonal, and implanted ones, and proscribed patient education/counseling. Cost sharing can be used to encourage generic IUDs- but if a doctor recommends a specific device, it must be fully covered
- Access to all FDA identified forms of oral contraceptives
- Access to sex-specific services recommended by physicians such as mammograms and pap smears regardless of sex assigned at birth and without cost sharing.
- Covered dependent children must also be covered for any services applicable to them
- No cost sharing for routine immunizations, evidence-based preventive care and screening for infants, children and adolescents; screenings for women with high risk of breast, ovarian, tubal or peritoneal cancer; genetic testing for women with positive screenings and women with personal histories of cancer even if they are asymptomatic, and physician recommended anesthesia for a preventive colonoscopy
Our CEO, Bré Thomas, hopes that these clarifications will help low-income individuals covered by ACA to understand all the resources available to them and straighten out confusion about the ACA’s provisions relating to family planning.
– Frankie O’Neill, Summer Intern
