Essential Health Benefits

A comprehensive package of benefits that insurance policies must cover in order to be certified and offered in Exchanges. All Medicaid state plans must cover these services by 2014. Essential health benefit packages include items and services within at least the following 10 categories: ambulatory patient services, emergency services, hospitalization, maternity and newborn care, mental health and substance use disorder services, prescription drugs, laboratory services, pediatric services, rehabilitative and habilitative services and devices, preventive and wellness services.