Health insurance benefits regulations released by HHS

health insurance substance abuse rehab

health insurance prescription drugsThe department has now provided additional information to assist the states.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has now issued additional details regarding health insurance benefits requirements that have to do with coverage of prescription drugs.

The cover has now been further strengthened for the millions of people who will be buying plans.

These prescription drug benefits regulations will apply to health insurance policies that will come available late in 2013, in time for the official complete opening of the state exchanges, as per the overall healthcare overhaul law of 2010.

The increase in the prescription benefits to health insurance was a part of a greater rules release.

The package of rules that has now been revealed by the Department of Health and Human Services includes many long awaited details for the implementation of regulations regarding the benefits in health insurance plans that will be included in the state exchanges. The government has now identified the minimum requirements that must be met by plans, and it has prohibited denying coverage to individuals who have pre-existing medical conditions.

Once these new regulations have been made final, they will provide the boundaries of the new health insurance exchanges that will be in operation in each of the states by January 1, 2014. This type of minimum standard for coverage has officially stepped away from what is typically practiced within the American insurance industry, but has laid out another important piece of the Affordable Care Act.

Typically, instead of being controlled by the federal government, it is employers and state regulators that have decided on these minimum standards. However, the healthcare reforms law has stated that the federal government must create a minimum coverage standard in terms of several aspects of health insurance plans. This includes coverage for inpatient and outpatient care, maternity and childhood care, preventive screenings and lab tests, prescription drugs, and emergency services.

Other health insurance areas where the standards are being federally set are substance abuse and mental health treatments, physical and cognitive disorder rehabilitation, and child vision and dental care. These benefits are often not entirely covered by today’s slimmer plans, but will become a requirement once the law is fully in place.

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