Waiver of Coinsurance and Deductible for Preventive Services, Section 4104 of The Affordable Care Act, Removal of Barriers to Preventive Services in Medicare

CR 7012, implements the changes of The Affordable Care Act. The CR announces that (effective for dates of service on or after January 1, 2011) Medicare will provide 100 percent payment (in other words, will waive any coinsurance or copayment) for those preventive services that: 1) Are identified with a grade of A or B by the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) for any indication or population; and 2) Are appropriate for the individual. The following preventive services are covered by Medicare: • Pneumococcal, influenza, and hepatitis B vaccine and administration; • Screening mammography; • Screening pap smear and screening pelvic examination; • Prostate cancer screening tests; • Colorectal cancer screening tests; • Diabetes Outpatient Self-Management Training (DSMT); • Bone mass measurement; • Screening for glaucoma; • Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) services; • Cardiovascular screening blood test; • Diabetes screening tests; • Ultrasound screening for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA); and • Additional preventive services (identified for coverage through the National Coverage Determination (NCD) process. Currently, these are limited to Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) testing).