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January 09, 2014 at 11:40 AM
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is adding breast cancer prevention to the basic women’s health preventive services package.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act requires non-grandfathered major medical carriers and group health plans to cover the package of services without imposing deductibles, co-payments, coinsurance amounts or other cost-sharing requirements on the patients.
The PPACA preventive services package mandate applies to self-insured group health plans as well as to traditional plans.
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said today in a blog entry that HHS had already posted breast cancer prevention drug guidance. At press time, the guidance hadn’t appeared.
The breast cancer prevention drug mandate will include coverage for tamoxifen or raloxifene for women who appear to be at high risk for developing breast cancer.
Sebelius added the mandate based on a recommendation from a panel at the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.
In September, the task force published a recommendation giving use of the cancer prevention drugs a B for women at high-risk of developing cancer. For other women, the task force gave use of the drugs a grade of just D.
