New federal healthcare guidelines broaden women's sexual health and reproductive services

August 1 marked major additions to women's healthcare in the U.S., significantly to sexual and reproductive health services. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, these new guidelines will take effect in 2012, and affect up to 34 million U.S. women who previously lacked coverage for those health needs.

Services to be widely offered include counseling for victims of domestic violence, cervical cancer screening, free birth control and sexually transmitted disease (STD) testing, among others.

The new guidelines have been subject to a fair amount of controversy and debate in the week since its announcement. Insurance providers fear that the legislation will lead to increased doctor's office visits and drive up coverage costs. Officials in President Barack Obama's administration claim insurance premiums will be largely unaffected.

No estimates of the guidelines' costs have been made public, the news source reports. Brent Fulton, a research economist at University of California Berkeley, classifies cost-effectiveness as relative in this situation.

"In general, preventive services are cost-effective - meaning they're a good use of resources - but they're not necessarily a cost savings," Fulton told the news source.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that untreated reproductive tract infections, including STDs, lead to thousands of deaths from cervical cancer, ectopic pregnancy and other subsequent health problems.