Obamacare Halloween

Happy Halloween

 

I made this graphic for our community outreach efforts in October.  It illustrates just a few of the Essential Health Benefits required by the health care law. 

What do I mean by essential health benefits?

Healthcare.gov defines essential health benefits as

“A set of health care service categories that must be covered by certain plans, starting in 2014… Insurance policies must cover these benefits in order to be certified and offered in the Health Insurance Marketplace. States expanding their Medicaid programs must provide these benefits to people newly eligible for Medicaid.”

These are the minimum requirements for health plans.

The Essential Health Benefits are:

•   Ambulatory patient services (outpatient care)

•   Emergency services

•   Hospitalization including surgery

•   Maternity and newborn care

•   Mental health and substance use disorder services, including behavioral health treatment (this includes counseling and psychotherapy)

•   Prescription drugs including all forms of birth control

•   Rehabilitative and habilitative services and devices (services and devices to help people with injuries, disabilities, or chronic conditions gain or recover mental and physical skills)

•   Laboratory services

• Preventative and wellness care and chronic disease management

•   Pediatric services