On April 24, 2015, the Colorado Division of Insurance published Bulletin No. B-4.83. The new bulletin is directed toward insurers and relates to preventive services that must be covered at zero cost-sharing by health benefit plans in Colorado.
As background, PPACA requires certain preventive care to be covered with no cost-sharing requirements (e.g., copayments, deductible, coinsurance, etc.) if provided by an in-network provider. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA)) provide recommendations as to which preventive services are included under the PPACA requirement. The recommendations are ongoing and generally become applicable no later than the plan year that begins on or after the one-year anniversary of the recommendation. In addition to federal law, Colorado also requires certain preventive services to be covered at zero cost-sharing.
The bulletin provides insurers with the most recent recommendations and Colorado preventive service coverage mandates, including recommendations issued in 2013 and 2014. The bulletin has three attachments with charts listing the preventive services. Attachment A contains the USPSTF recommendations which take effect April 24, 2015. These include alcohol misuse and counseling, breast cancer preventive medications and lung cancer screenings. Attachment B contains the preventive services mandated by Colorado law (not included in the USPSTF’s recommendations). These include chicken pox vaccinations, colorectal screening and cervical cancer vaccine. Attachment C contains the HRSA women’s’ preventive services guidelines, which includes gestational diabetes screening, human papillomavirus testing and breastfeeding supplies.
Although the bulletin applies only to insurers, Colorado employers should review the bulletin to better understand which services and benefits under their group health plans will be considered preventive care that should be provided with zero cost-sharing to covered employees.
Bulletin No. B-4.83