The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) made the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) basic preventive services package famous by putting a controversial mandate — for "free" birth control benefits — in the package. 

Consumer groups say patients are having trouble using the other, less controversial benefits in the package, such as access to checkups, vaccinations and some cancer screenings.

The issue came up last week in Louisville, Ky., at the summer meeting of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). The NAIC/Consumer Liaison Committee — a panel that brings state insurance regulators together with representatives from consumer groups — heard a presentation by Adam Linker of the North Carolina Justice Center, Kathleen Gmeiner of UHCAN Ohio, and Stephanie Mohl of the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.

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Allison Bell

Allison Bell, a senior reporter at ThinkAdvisor and BenefitsPRO, previously was an associate editor at National Underwriter Life & Health. She has a bachelor's degree in economics from Washington University in St. Louis and a master's degree in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. She can be reached through X at @Think_Allison.