Does Curbing Out-of-Pocket Costs Encourage Women to Access Mammography Screening?

Evidently so: The Affordable Care Act's elimination of cost sharing was associated with higher biennial screening rates among older women.

Even for individuals with health insurance, incurring out-of-pocket costs diminishes use of health care services. From 2009 through 2011, passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) eliminated cost sharing (i.e., copayments) for screening mammography among women enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans. Now, investigators have assessed rates of biennial screening mammography in women aged 65 to 74 (a population for which the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends biennial screening) who were enrolled in plans that initially required, then eliminated, cost sharing in accord with the ACA (intervention plans) compared with plans that fully covered mammograms before and after the ACA directive (control plans). Characteristics of women enrolled…

Reviewing Author

Andrew M. Kaunitz, MD

Disclosures

RoyaltiesUpToDate

Grant/Research SupportMerck, Mithra, Medicines360

Editorial BoardsContraception; Menopause; Contraceptive Technology Update; OBG Management; Medscape OB/GYN & Women’s Health

Andrew M. Kaunitz, MD

Disclosures

RoyaltiesUpToDate

Grant/Research SupportMerck, Mithra, Medicines360

Editorial BoardsContraception; Menopause; Contraceptive Technology Update; OBG Management; Medscape OB/GYN & Women’s Health

Does Curbing Out-of-Pocket Costs Encourage Women to Access Mammography Screening?

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Reviewing Author