New Year, New Insurance Coverages

The year is still new – we can tell because everyone’s still writing the date as 1/30/13… oops. With this new year in particular comes changes that are taking a while to set in, get the hang of (like writing the date correctly?) and a lot of those have to do with health care.

As we all adjust to the new rules and regulations regarding our health coverage – some of which are complex, some of which are polarizing, and all of which tend to be confusing –  it’s important to seek out information that can have an effect on you.

One of the changes for coverage this year concerns coverage of screening or preventive services. For screening mammograms: coverage is required at no out-of-pocket charge to you as part of standard healthcare packages. This is great news! Taking care of yourself just got a little easier…Remember this applies to screening studies only – diagnostic mammograms for patients with a symptom or sign related to the breast are not included in this. 

Because of caveats and grandfather clauses, this coverage of screening mammography without out-of-pocket costs may not apply to all women. As always with insurance-related issues, it is recommended to call your provider directly to ensure all your ducks are in a row. Once they are – quack! Please get your annual screening mammogram and know that you’ve played your part in your best possible health!

Image credit: Make way for ducklings statue by Gareth Owen Copyright Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) 

Originally published 1/30/14 on mammographykc.com.