Usually my news is pretty biased against the media, and I both know and accept this, while I'm sure all of you have figured it out as well. I was recently emailed by someone who cautioned me about supporting Obamacare, as he said it would make my medical expenses much higher. I will call him CP. This morning, I received an email from him with a video of a Dr. Jill Vecchio, a radiologist specializing in breast cancer, who makes some claims. She states that under Obamacare, she will be required to only recommend mammograms to women over the age of 50, and only every other year until age 74, at which point she is required never to recommend them again. Here is that video.
I did some digging on this. If this really was the case, I felt that this part of the legislation would have a negative impact on women's health. And that, my friends, is something I am not too fond of. Here's what I found.
In this Snopes article, you have to scroll all the way to the last paragraph to find them debunking her claim. But there is also no link to a reference. It simply states that there is no such restriction offered. What I have found, however, is the actual text of the legislative amendment in question.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A group health plan and a health insurance
issuer offering group or individual health insurance coverage shall,
at a minimum provide coverage for and shall not impose any
cost sharing requirements for—
‘‘(1) evidence-based items or services that have in effect
a rating of ‘A’ or ‘B’ in the current recommendations of the
United States Preventive Services Task Force;
‘‘(2) immunizations that have in effect a recommendation
from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with respect
to the individual involved; and
‘‘(3) with respect to infants, children, and adolescents, evidence-informed preventive care and screenings provided for
in the comprehensive guidelines supported by the Health
Resources and Services Administration.
‘‘(4) with respect to women, such additional preventive
care and screenings not described in paragraph (1) as provided
for in comprehensive guidelines supported by the Health
Resources and Services Administration for purposes of this
paragraph.
‘‘(5) for the purposes of this Act, and for the purposes
of any other provision of law, the current recommendations
of the United States Preventive Service Task Force regarding
breast cancer screening, mammography, and prevention shall be considered the most current other than those issued in
or around November 2009.
Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to prohibit a plan or issuer from providing coverage for services in addition to those recommended by United States Preventive Services Task Force or to deny coverage for services that are not recommended by such Task Force."
issuer offering group or individual health insurance coverage shall,
at a minimum provide coverage for and shall not impose any
cost sharing requirements for—
‘‘(1) evidence-based items or services that have in effect
a rating of ‘A’ or ‘B’ in the current recommendations of the
United States Preventive Services Task Force;
‘‘(2) immunizations that have in effect a recommendation
from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with respect
to the individual involved; and
‘‘(3) with respect to infants, children, and adolescents, evidence-informed preventive care and screenings provided for
in the comprehensive guidelines supported by the Health
Resources and Services Administration.
‘‘(4) with respect to women, such additional preventive
care and screenings not described in paragraph (1) as provided
for in comprehensive guidelines supported by the Health
Resources and Services Administration for purposes of this
paragraph.
‘‘(5) for the purposes of this Act, and for the purposes
of any other provision of law, the current recommendations
of the United States Preventive Service Task Force regarding
breast cancer screening, mammography, and prevention shall be considered the most current other than those issued in
or around November 2009.
Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to prohibit a plan or issuer from providing coverage for services in addition to those recommended by United States Preventive Services Task Force or to deny coverage for services that are not recommended by such Task Force."
It states that these are "minimum" coverage pieces. The last sentence of the copied part says an awful lot, doesn't it? It basically shouts "These are the minimum guidelines, people! This is just the very least they have to do!"
I haven't seen anything in any of the legislation that says doctors will be punished in any way for going above and beyond these guidelines. It simply does not exist in the law.
If you'd like to read it yourself, in its entirety, here's the link.
Let's get to other news.
-- [Chuck] Here's little song that has been dedicated to a police officer who seems to overstep his bounds quite often.
-- The Illuminator is gone, having been returned to the original owner due to conflicting plans. Take a look at the story here, to see what happened.
-- As a factory plant in France readies for a decision on its fate, workers have Occupied the management offices, preventing managers and decision makers from gaining access.
***Solidarity***
To contact me, email elvishbutterfly@hotmail.com. Thanks for reading.
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