December 31, 2002 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)
Preventive care provisions not commonly described in plans
Only a few preventive care tests and measures are described in employers’ health plan summaries.
![Preventive care provisions most commonly covered in summary plan descriptions, 2000](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20120925063558im_/http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/images/2002/dec/wk5/art02.gif) [Chart data—TXT]
Mammograms and Pap smears, two cancer screening tests, are the most commonly described preventive health provisions in health plan summaries. Plans commonly provide for one baseline mammogram between ages 35 and 39 and some age-related schedule for ages 40 and older. Pap smears are usually limited to once a year.
Well-child care is also among the most commonly described provisions. This provision is sometimes grouped under wellness or preventive care with age limits of 6, 12, or 18 years.
These data were collected by a joint effort of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality of the Department Health and Human Services and the
Employee Benefits Survey of the Bureau of Labor Statistics under the auspices of the Interagency Committee on Employment-Related Health Insurance Surveys. Note that the study measured only whether provisions were described in plan documents. For more information see,
"Preventive care provisions, other benefits: are they described in plan
documents?" by Alan P. Blostin in the October 2002 issue of Monthly Labor
Review.
Of interest
Spotlight on Statistics: National Hispanic Heritage Month
In this Spotlight, we take a look at the Hispanic labor force—including labor force participation, employment and unemployment, educational attainment, geographic location, country of birth, earnings, consumer expenditures, time use, workplace injuries, and employment projections.
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