Ever since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, a prevention model of health has been increasingly weaving its way into the fabric of traditional models of care. That’s because the ACA expanded the role of preventive services in the US health care delivery system via various incentives.
For example, the “Category A & B” preventive services that are recommended by the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) are now included (at no cost to consumers) in all Qualified Health Plans. In addition, many employer-based and state Medicaid programs routinely cover Category A & B services once they’re recommended by the USPSTF.
The USPSTF is an independent, volunteer panel of experts in prevention and evidence-based medicine. The Task Force works to improve the health of all Americans by making evidence-based recommendations about clinical preventive services such as screenings, counseling services, and preventive medications.
The Task Force analyzes priority preventive health services and assigns the a letter grade (an A, B, C, or D grade or an “I Statement”) based on the strength of the evidence and the balance of benefits and harms of the preventive service.
Currently, the USPSTF recommends 51 Category A & B Preventive Health Services – which include things like screening tests, counseling, immunizations, and preventive medications for adults, adolescents, and children.
The preventive services that have an A or B grade are presented in alphabetical order and by the date they were recommended on the Task Force website.
This month they added 2 new recommendations related to HIV:
You can browse the USPHS website and check out the preventive services that they have evaluated but got a lower grade. Most of the services are broken down by age, gender and other risk factors.