Coming health care changes you may not know about

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http://www.kentucky.com/2010/07/11/1344652/coming-health-care-changes-you.html

Sunday, Jul. 11, 2010

Coming health care changes you may not know about

By MARY AGNES CAREY AND ANDREW VILLEGAS - Kaiser Health News

WASHINGTON -- Several little-known provisions of the new health-care overhaul law take effect in coming months that could have a lasting impact on the nation's health-care system.

They include eliminating co-payments for certain preventive services such as mammograms, giving the government more power to review health insurers' premium increases and allowing states to expand Medicaid coverage to low-income adults without children.

Here's a quick look at some of the changes that are occurring this year:

PREVENTION FOR LESS

What: Insurers won't be able to require co-payments or deductibles for certain preventive services such as breast cancer screenings every one to two years, cholesterol blood tests and screenings for some sexually transmitted diseases. Insurers also will have to cover recommended immunizations at no cost to patients. Some health-care analysts have suggested that premiums may rise as a result of this and other new requirements, but administration officials say that any increase in premiums would be minuscule