Actually two other sections are candidates as well; they are Sections 4105 and 4106.
To review- 10320 is the section that gives the Secretary of HHS the authority and power and mandate to issue rules and regulations to limit the growth of private medical spending. See here for my concern about that.
The other three sections outline the broad reach of recommendations that will be made by the USPSTF . It is worse that it sounds because it will also encompasses previous recommendations the group made (except for the recent mammogram recommendation because folks got upset about that before the health care bill was passed and the HHS Secretary did some quick damage control)
DrRich discussed the power that the USPHSTF will have over our ( "our" referring those of us having any kind of health insurance) health care insurance coverage. See here.
Section 2713 establishes that the recommendations made by the USPSTF regarding preventive services will determine what will be covered by private insurance. Section 4105 does the same for Medicare and 4106 for Medicaid.
Remember the outcry when the USPHSTF issued guidelines regarding breast cancer screening that were widely perceived as being counter to what advice had been pounded into women's heads for the last quite a few years. Government officials,including the Secretary of HHS, quickly reassured the country that this panels was not issuing official government mandates just offering advice and that women should confer with their physician and see what they both agree is best for them. Well, with the passage of the health care bill that all changes because the government will have the power to determine what insurance policies have to cover and I fear what they cannot.
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