[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 4 (Tuesday, January 7, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 722-723]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-00035]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Health Resources and Services Administration
Update to the Women's Preventive Services Guidelines
AGENCY: Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Department
of Health and Human Services (HHS).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: On December 17, 2019, HRSA approved an update to the HRSA-
supported Women's Preventive Services Guidelines (Guidelines) that
addresses health needs specific to women. The Guidelines are based on
clinical recommendations from the Women's Preventive Services
Initiative. Preventive care and screenings for women provided for in
comprehensive guidelines supported by HRSA are required to be covered
without cost-sharing by non-grandfathered group health plans and health
insurance
[[Page 723]]
issuers offering non-grandfathered group or individual health insurance
coverage. This 2019 update adds one additional service--Screening for
Anxiety--to the HRSA-supported Women's Preventive Services Guidelines
to the 11 preventive services that were last updated in 2017. The 11
services included in the 2017 update are: Breast Cancer Screening for
Average Risk Women, Breastfeeding Services and Supplies, Screening for
Cervical Cancer, Contraception, Screening for Gestational Diabetes
Mellitus, Screening for Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection,
Screening for Interpersonal and Domestic Violence, Counseling for
Sexually Transmitted Infections, Well-Woman Preventive Visits,
Screening for Diabetes Mellitus after Pregnancy, and Screening for
Urinary Incontinence. This notice serves as an announcement of the
decision to update the guidelines as listed below. Please see https://www.hrsa.gov/womens-guidelines/index.html for additional information.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ada Determan, Maternal and Child
Health Bureau at email: [email protected] or (301) 945-3057.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The updated 2019 HRSA-supported Women's
Preventive Services Guidelines and information related to guideline
development and implementation can be found on https://www.hrsa.gov/womens-guidelines-2019/index.html. Information regarding the new
preventive service approved by the HRSA Administrator for inclusion in
the comprehensive guidelines is set out below:
Screening for Anxiety
The Women's Preventive Services Initiative recommends screening for
anxiety in adolescent and adult women, including those who are pregnant
or postpartum. Optimal screening intervals are unknown and clinical
judgement should be used to determine screening frequency. Given the
high prevalence of anxiety disorders, lack of recognition in clinical
practice, and multiple problems associated with untreated anxiety,
clinicians should consider screening women who have not been recently
screened.
HRSA-Supported Women's Preventive Services Guidelines
The HRSA-supported Women's Preventive Services Guidelines were
originally established in 2011 based on recommendations from the
Institute of Medicine, now known as the National Academy of Medicine
(NAM), developed under a contract with HHS. Since then, there have been
advancements in science and gaps identified in the existing guidelines,
including a greater emphasis on practice-based clinical considerations.
To address these, HRSA awarded a 5-year cooperative agreement in March
2016 to convene a coalition of clinician, academic, and consumer-
focused health professional organizations and conduct a scientifically
rigorous review to develop recommendations for updated Women's
Preventive Services Guidelines in accordance with the model created by
the NAM Clinical Practice Guidelines We Can Trust. The American College
of Obstetricians and Gynecologists was awarded the cooperative
agreement and formed an expert panel called the Women's Preventive
Services Initiative to perform this work.
Under section 2713 of the Public Health Service Act, 42 U.S.C.
300gg-13, non-grandfathered group health plans and issuers of non-
grandfathered group and individual health insurance coverage are
required to cover specified preventive services without a copayment,
coinsurance, deductible, or other cost sharing, including preventive
care and screenings for women as provided for in comprehensive
guidelines supported by HRSA for this purpose. Non-grandfathered group
health plans and health insurance issuers offering non-grandfathered
group or individual coverage (generally plans or policies created or
sold after March 23, 2010, or older plans or policies that have been
changed in certain ways since that date) are required to provide
coverage without cost sharing for preventive services listed in the
updated HRSA-supported guidelines (which include the 11 preventive
services last updated in 2017 as well as the one new service added in
this update) beginning with the first plan year (in the individual
market, policy year) that begins on or after December 17, 2020.
Dated: December 30, 2019.
Thomas J. Engels,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2020-00035 Filed 1-6-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4165-15-P