What preventive services are encouraged under the healthcare reform law?

The Affordable Care Act encourages taking advantage of preventive services, such as screenings, vaccinations, and counseling by eliminating deductibles, co-payments, and co-insurance for employer-sponsored health plans or individual health insurance policies created after September 23, 2010.

Depending on your plan, the following preventive services may be available to you:

• Blood pressure, diabetes, and cholesterol tests
• Many cancer screenings, including mammograms and colonoscopies
• Counseling on such topics as quitting smoking, losing weight, eating healthfully, treating depression, and reducing alcohol use
• Routine vaccinations against diseases such as measles, polio or meningitis
• Flu and pneumonia shots
• Counseling, screening, and vaccines to ensure healthy pregnancies

Regular well-baby and well-child visits, from birth to age 21

The Affordable Care Act requires many insurance plans to provide coverage without cost sharing to enrollees for a variety of preventive health services, such as colonoscopy screening for colon cancer, Pap smears and mammograms for women, well-child visits, and flu shots for all children and adults. The law also makes proven preventive services free for most people on Medicare.