Birth control and other preventive services for women may be free

An Institute of Medicine (IOM) report, Clinical Preventive Services for Women: Closing the Gaps, recommends that birth control methods, including the morning after pill, along with a slew of other preventative services for women should be provided free of cost by health insurance plans under the health care reform law. The new report, commissioned by the Obama administration, recommends that eight preventive health services for women in total be added to the services that health plans will cover at no cost to patients under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA). Because unplanned pregnancies occur at a rate of 50% here in the USA and because unplanned pregnancies are more likely to result in adverse outcomes, it's no surprise that the report really seems focused on a fuller range of contraceptive issues. Those issues include better contraceptive education, counseling, methods, and services so that women can better avoid unwanted pregnancies and space their pregnancies to promote optimal birth outcomes. Other preventative services for women that the IOM says should be free of cost include the following:

• Screening for gestational diabetes.
• Lactation counseling and equipment to help women breastfeed successfully.
• One well-woman preventive care visit annually.
• Screening and counseling for all women and adolescent girls for interpersonal and domestic violence.
• Annual counseling on STIs and HIV testing.

"This report provides a road map for improving the health and well-being of women," said committee chair Linda Rosenstock, dean, School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles. "The eight services we identified are necessary to support women's optimal health and well-being. Each recommendation stands on a foundation of evidence supporting its effectiveness." Health and Human Services will have the final say over what services will be offered free of cost as part of the ACA, however it seem optimistic that these suggestions will pass. Reports note that Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius called the IOM report "historic."