Linton & Associates, LLC Encourages Women to Investigate New Free Health Services Now Available Thanks to Affordable Health Care Act

Linton & Associates, LLC, an employee benefits specialist agency serving New Mexico and the surrounding states, is encouraging women to investigate and take advantage of new free health services that are now available thanks to the Affordable Health Care Act.

Under the new law, insurance companies must now cover more health services related to women at no cost to the insured. These health services for women include:

• Breastfeeding support, counseling, and supplies;
• Domestic and interpersonal violence screening and counseling;
• FDA-approved contraception methods, education, and counseling as well as sterilization procedures;
• Gestational diabetes screening for pregnant women;
• HPV DNA testing for women over the age of 30;
• HIV screening and counseling;
• Sexually transmitted infections counseling; and
• Annual well-women doctor visits.

These will be available in new health insurance plans, beginning August 2012. Other preventative care services are being extended to women, men, families and senior to ensure a better sense of health and well-being.

These changes, as part of the Affordable Health Care Act, are intended to have people focus on their health and wellness rather than on the cost as the deciding factor. According to research supplied by HealthCare.gov, “…chronic diseases – which are responsible for 7 of 10 deaths among Americans each year and account for 75% of the nation’s health spending – often are preventable. Cost sharing (including copayments, co-insurance, and deductibles) reduces the likelihood that preventive services will be used. Especially concerning for women are studies showing that even moderate copays for preventive services such as mammograms or Pap smears result in fewer women obtaining this care.”

Making certain health services free for women will be a way to encourage more women to take better care of themselves and equalize the accessibility of health care for minorities and others that have struggled with obtaining service and have the highest rates of certain preventable diseases.

About Linton & Associates, LLC

Headquartered in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Linton & Associates, LLC serves over 160 employer groups and over 700 individual clients throughout New Mexico as well as the surrounding states. Established in 1988, the agency’s expert team is familiar with the real estate, construction, hospitality industry, legal firms and small employer groups, serving numerous clients in those fields in both small and large organizations with fully and self-insured plans, Section 125 plans, High Deductible Health Plans and Health Savings Accounts. Linton & Associates, LLC has built a network of associations with all the national ancillary carriers in life insurance, short and long term disability, and retirement plans. For more information, please visit www.lintonandassociates.com.