Receipt of Selected Clinical Preventive Services by Adults — United States, 2011-2012

Abstract

Preventive services are available for nine of the ten leading causes of death in the United States. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) 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 for monitoring the effects of the law after 2012, CDC analyzed responses from persons aged ≥18 years in the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) for the years 2011 and 2012 combined. NHIS is an in-person interview administered annually to a nationally representative sample of the noninstitutionalized, U.S. civilian population. This report summarizes the findings for nine preventive services covered by the ACA. Having health insurance or a higher income was associated with higher rates of receiving these 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 sufficient to ensure that everyone is offered or uses clinical services proven to prevent disease. Greater awareness of ACA provisions among the public, public health professionals, partners, and health care providers might help increase the receipt of recommended services.