http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/blog/2017/mar/eliminating-essential-health-benefits-financial-risk-consumers

Exhibit 1. The Affordable Care Act’s 10 Essential Health Benefits Categories

1. Ambulatory patient services
2. Emergency services
3. Hospitalization
4. Maternity and newborn care
5. Mental health and substance use disorder services, including behavioral health treatment
6. Prescription drugs
7. Rehabilitative and habilitative services and devices
8. Laboratory services
9. Preventive and wellness services and chronic disease management
10. Pediatric services, including oral and vision care

Source: The Affordable Care Act, Section 1302(b)(1).

Weeks after Congress started the process to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), questions remain as to whether Republican plans for replacing the law will include protections requiring insurers to cover a minimum package of health benefits. Most replacement proposals have not included such standards. While the recently released House replacement bill retains the ACA’s benefit rules for private health insurance, Secretary Price said the administration and Congress will take additional steps to change the health law. These actions could remove benefit requirements, giving insurers more flexibility to exclude benefits and leave enrollees without coverage for the health care services they need.

Essential Health Benefits Are a Signature Component of the ACA

Prior to the ACA, health insurance in the individual market was often significantly less comprehensive than the coverage available to employees of large companies. The ACA sought to make individual market insurance more robust, and more like typical employer-sponsored coverage, by requiring plans to cover 10 categories of “essential health benefits” (EHBs) (Exhibit 1). Implementing regulations gave states flexibility to choose from among existing health plans in their states in identifying the benefit benchmark. In most states, the EHB benchmark is a small-group plan.