Relationship of income and health care coverage to receipt of recommended clinical preventive services by adults - United States, 2011-2012

Abstract

Each year in the United States, an estimated 100,000 deaths could be prevented if persons received recommended clinical preventive care. The Affordable Care Act has reduced cost as a barrier to care by expanding access to insurance and requiring many health plans to cover certain recommended preventive services without copayments or deductibles. To establish a baseline for the receipt of these services and to begin monitoring the effects of the law, CDC analyzed responses from persons aged ≥18 years in the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) for the years 2011 and 2012 combined. This report summarizes the findings for six services covered by the Affordable Care Act. Among the six services examined, three were received by less than half of the persons for whom they were recommended (testing for human immunodeficiency virus [HIV] and vaccination for influenza and zoster [shingles]). Having health insurance or a higher income was associated with higher rates of receiving these preventive services, affirming findings of previous studies. Securing health insurance coverage might be an important way to increase receipt of clinical preventive services, but insurance coverage is not all that is needed to ensure that everyone is offered and uses clinical services proven to prevent disease. Greater awareness of Affordable Care Act provisions among public health professionals, partners, health care providers, and patients might help increase the receipt of recommended services.