Rules for free preventive services requirement to be announced

During a Wednesday news conference, the Obama administration is expected to unveil regulations showing which preventive services insurers will be required to provide free-of-charge to consumers under the health overhaul law, The Wall Street Journal reports. "Cancer screenings, including mammograms and colonoscopies, as well as obesity prevention services, immunizations, blood pressure screenings and tobacco cessation services are among those that will be available to consumers without a copayment or other direct costs for consumers on new health plans after Sept. 23." Birth control will not be, despite the efforts of advocates like Planned Parenthood (Adamy, 7/13).

CQ HealthBeat: At the 2:15 p.m. unveiling ceremony at George Washington University, "Department of Health and Human Services officials will be joined Wednesday by First Lady Michelle Obama and Vice President Joe Biden's wife, Jill Biden." The rules would go into effect Sept. 23 (7/14).

In other health reform policy news, Maine has asked the federal government to exempt it temporarily from adhering to health reform law rules governing medical-loss ratios, saying it could force one of the state's health plans out of business in the state, according to The Wall Street Journal, in a separate story. "At issue are tougher rules governing the so-called medical-loss ratio, a measure of how much insurers spend on medical care compared with their administrative expenses and profits. Under the new law, insurers must pay out at least 80% of the premiums collected from individuals on medical care. Regulators at the National Association of Insurance Commissioners are drafting rules to determine what insurers can count as medical expenses and what protections might help smaller plans stay afloat."

Maine's insurance superintendent said the rule, if implemented too quickly, could force HealthMarkets Inc. to stop doing business in the state, leaving just WellPoint's Anthem Blue Cross & Blue Shield the sole option for consumers. "The law allows HHS to grant exemptions if the requirement will upend markets. HHS has received the letter, which is the first from a state regulator, and it will be establishing the process for reviewing such requests in regulations that it plans to issue, said an HHS spokeswoman" (Johnson, 7/14).