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The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, known also simply as the new health care reform law, include several provisions that ultimately have the welfare of the American in mind in terms of health care. One of the things that it touches on is the importance of prevention in ensuring better health.
This provision led to the creation of the National Prevention Council, as shared in a post on HealthCare.gov. Serving as chairperson for the council is the Surgeon General Dr. Regina Benjamin, the author of the post.
Dr. Benjamin listed the responsibilities of the National Prevention Council as the coordination of efforts towards prevention, wellness, and health promotion across the government. She wrote further that the Council is expected to develop a National Prevention Strategy, based in part on input received from the public, as well as from interested stakeholders.
“The National Prevention Strategy brings prevention and wellness to the forefront of our national conversation on health,” Dr. Benjamin said. “A focus on prevention will offer an opportunity to not only improve the health of Americans, but also help to reduce health care costs and improve quality of care.”
In connection with the effort to develop the National Prevention Strategy, Dr. Benjamin shared that the Council hosted a meeting for stakeholders, set on December 15, Wednesday, simulcast on www.hhs.gov/live from 9 am to 1 pm Eastern. The purpose of the meeting is to allow the Council “to hear directly from stakeholders, including, local, state, and community-based organizations, as well as public and private sectors who are engaged in prevention programs and activities.”
In a previous post, we shared with you how Medicare is being expanded to include tobacco cessation programs, ensuring that beneficiaries are given the opportunity to undergo such programs when these can be more helpful and effective, which is before the onset of disease.
Preventive care is not just a Medicare provision, but a provision that includes everyone, regardless of age. After all, it is not just seniors who have smoking habits; come to think of it, there may be more yuppies that are into smoking when compared to seniors.
Health care reform recognizes that being able to prevent disease from occurring is just as important as meeting the health care demands of patients. It is for this reason that cancer prevention tools, including such programs as annual mammograms for women over 40, regular pap smears, HPV vaccination, tobacco cessation counseling or medication, and screening tests for colon cancer for adults over 50.
New health plans are also mandated to offer coverage sans cost-sharing services, for services such as obesity screening, counseling from physicians or health professionals in order to promote sustained weight loss, blood pressure screening, counseling on the daily use of aspirin in order to reduce the risk of a stroke, and screening for high cholesterol and diabetes.
Children are also taken care of by healthcare reform, through the availability of new health plans for children without cost-sharing. Among these services are well-baby and well-child doctor’s visits every few months and screenings for such childhood problems as obesity and depression.
