Seventy-one million additional Americans are receiving preventive services coverage without cost-sharing under the Affordable Care Act

The Affordable Care Act ensures that most insurance plans (so-called ‘non-grandfathered’ plans) provide coverage for and eliminate cost-sharing on certain recommended preventive health services, beginning on or after September 23, 2010. This includes services such as colonoscopy screening for colon cancer, Pap smears and mammograms for women, well-child visits, flu shots for all children and adults, and many more. While some plans already covered these services, millions of Americans were previously in health plans that did not. Using information from the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Employer Health Benefits Survey and the most recent data from the Census Bureau, we estimate that approximately 71 million Americans are now receiving expanded coverage of one or more preventive services due to the Affordable Care Act. [4 PDF pages]