Stand Up for APA Applauds Decision by UnitedHealthcare to Begin Providing NIPT Coverage to All Pregnant Women

SAN DIEGO, Dec. 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Stand Up for Accurate Prenatal Answers, a nonprofit working to ensure that all women in the United States receive access to the most accurate non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) options, today applauded a recent decision by UnitedHealthcare (UHC) to begin providing NIPT coverage to all pregnant women effective January 1, 2021. As the largest private health insurer in the country, UHC will provide unrestricted NIPT coverage to an additional 37 million covered lives. The decision leaves Aetna as the only major health insurance company that still does not permanently provide unrestricted NIPT coverage for all expectant mothers.

"UnitedHeathcare's recent policy decision to extend unrestricted NIPT coverage to all pregnant women is a significant step forward in the effort to ensure that all expecting mothers have access to the highest standard of prenatal care," said Brianna Wetherbe, Director and Board Member of Stand Up for APA.

"With UnitedHealthcare's policy change, Aetna now stands alone as the only large private health insurer that fails to follow the recommended guidelines from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM), which has already endorsed NIPT to all patients as the most accurate screening option for fetal chromosomal abnormalities. Aetna should follow the lead of UHC, Anthem, Cigna, Humana, and every other major health insurance company, and stop causing undue stress on mothers and families by failing to provide coverage for the most accurate information about their babies."

To learn more about NIPT access and Stand Up for APA, please visit: standup4apa.org 

Stand Up for Accurate Prenatal Answers (Stand Up for APA) is a nonprofit founded by mothers for mothers, working to ensure that all women in the United States are treated equally by receiving the most accurate, non-invasive prenatal genetic screening information available about the health of their baby, regardless of race, color, age, or socioeconomic status. We are driven to remove limitations related to insurance coverage and income or age discrimination that prevent many pregnant women from being offered the most accurate prenatal screening information available.

SOURCE Stand Up For APA