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Affordable Care Act Ensures Women Receive HIV Screening at No Additional Cost

August 2011

“Historic new guidelines that will ensure women receive preventive health services at no additional cost were announced … by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Developed by the independent Institute of Medicine, the new guidelines require new health insurance 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. …

“Last summer, HHS released new insurance market rules under the Affordable Care Act requiring all new private health plans to cover several evidence-based preventive services like mammograms, colonoscopies, blood pressure checks, and childhood immunizations without charging a copayment, deductible or coinsurance. …

“[The] announcement builds on that progress by making sure women have access to a full range of recommended preventive services without cost sharing, including: …

  • sexually-transmitted infection counseling;
  • human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) screening and counseling; …

“New health plans will need to include these services without cost sharing for insurance policies with plan years beginning on or after August 1, 2012. …

“For more information on the HHS guidelines for expanding women’s preventive services, please visit: http://www.healthcare.gov/news/factsheets/womensprevention08012011a.html. The guidelines can be found at: www.hrsa.gov/womensguidelines/.

“To learn more about the Affordable Care Act, please visit www.healthcare.gov.”
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