Changing the Lives of Women through Health Care Reform

By Rebecca Kamas on 06/24/2010 @ 04:13 PM

Today, I attended a luncheon hosted by the National Partnership for Women and Families. We heard from several speakers, including Debra Ness, President of the National Partnership for Women and Families; and Kathleen Sebelius, the Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. This event celebrated the progress that women have made in the area of equal rights, and the huge strides that the recent passage of the Affordable Health Care Act has made. The Affordable Health Care Act gives American women more control over their lives.

Secretary Sebelius talked about both the changes that have occurred in health care and those that are to come. It has only been 90 days since the Affordable Health Care Act has become law, and already important changes have been made. Over the past several weeks, the government has:

• Issued new regulations for insurance plans, ensuring that if you like your current health care plan, you can keep it and giving you, your family, and your business more control over your health care choices;
• Worked to get coverage to one of the groups who is least insured, young people, through a new provision that will allow children up to the age of 26 to stay on their parents health care plan in order to cover recent graduates (a benefit that many insurers implemented ahead of schedule);
• Announced tax credits of up to 35 percent of premiums, making employee coverage more affordable and benefiting millions of small businesses;
• Begun mailing $250 checks to tens of thousands of seniors who have reached the ‘donut hole' -- a term used to describe the gap in Medicare Part D prescription coverage -- to help them manage their health care costs;
• Announced new support to strengthen and expand the health care workforce, including increasing the number of primary care doctors and nurses.

This law will change the American health care system gradually; these are just the first in a series of reforms that will improve women’s lives. Many insurance plans do not provide comprehensive coverage, particularly to women. Under the old system, many necessary preventative services associated with women’s reproductive health were denied. Soon, women won’t need a referral to see an OB/GYN and will have access to pap smears and mammograms at no cost to them. This is particularly important, as Secretary Sebelius pointed out, since breast cancer has a 98% survival rate when it is detected early. However there is only a 23% survival rate for late-detected breast cancer. For many uninsured women, the decision to wait for screening has proved fatal. Additionally, birth control frequently isn’t covered by insurance plans, despite the fact that is the most commonly used prescription drug for women in all age groups. The health care bill also prohibits the practice of gender rating. Women will no longer be discriminated against and denied coverage or charged more for health care simply because of their gender. Being a woman is no longer a pre-existing condition.

Under the old system, women could also be denied health coverage if they were a victim of domestic violence. These women were victimized by both in their homes and by the system, and this kind of discrimination was truly a tragedy.

There are other changes in health care that will gradually occur. There will no longer be an annual or lifetime cap on care. Patients will no longer be forced to stop life-saving treatments simply because their insurance only covers part of the cost. The government is also making an effort to improve the way we receive care by making medical records electronic, allowing coordinated and consistent care between doctors or hospitals.

Just this week, President Obama put an end many of the unfair practices of health insurance companies by announcing new rules made possible by the Affordable Health Care Act. These new rules will take effect for most plans starting on or after September 23rd. Known as the “Patient Bill of Rights,” these rules will:

• Stop insurance companies from imposing pre-existing condition exclusions on your children;
• Prohibit insurers from rescinding or taking away your coverage based on an unintentional mistake on an application;
• Ban insurers from setting lifetime limits on your coverage and restrict their use of annual limits on coverage;
• Ensure that you can choose the primary care doctor or pediatrician you want from your plan's provider network;
• Eliminate the need for a referral to see an OB/GYN;
• Prohibit insurance companies from requiring "prior approval" before you seek emergency care at a hospital outside your plan's network.

You can watch the President speak about these rules here.

This piece of legislation will have a major impact on the lives of women, allowing them to have access to quality health care, and saving many lives. As Ellen Malcolm, the Chair of EMILY's List, who started off the luncheon, said: “Together we are harnessing the power of women to make progressive change.”

Click here for an interactive look at what health care reform means for you, with timelines, from the Kaiser Family Foundation.

You can also check out our second video blog (see below) from No Limits Live! This latest installment covers the luncheon.

You can view our most current video blog, as well as see past video blogs by visiting our new YouTube channel: www.YouTube.com/NoLimitsLive

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