Health Care Blog
The Affordable Care Act Protects Women’s Health
Posted by on March 20, 2012 at 3:04 PM EDTAlmost two years ago, the president signed the Affordable Care Act. Today the new law is giving millions of families the security that comes with knowing their health care will be there for them when they need it. And the law is helping women address many of the challenges they have faced getting the care they need.
Some of these benefits will take effect over the next few years, but many of them are already helping women lead healthier lives. Senior citizens like Norma Byrne of Vineland, N.J., have already seen that the new Affordable Care Act makes prescription drugs more affordable. Norma used to have to dip into her food budget to help pay for her medications because of the so-called donut hole. In 2010, just like other senior citizens with high drug spending, she received a $250 rebate check, which helped defray those costs. In 2011, thanks to the new law, she was one of nearly 2 million women who received a 50 percent discount on their brand-name prescription drugs.
Read the full post at The Daily Beast
Valerie B. Jarrett is a Senior Advisor to President Barack Obama. She is also the Chair of the White House Council on Women and Girls.
Learn more about Health Care, WomenBreaking it Down: The Health Care Law and Women
Posted by on March 20, 2012 at 11:00 AM EDTEd note: This post originally appeared on healthcare.gov
The President's health law gives hard working, middle-class families the security they deserve. The Affordable Care Act forces insurance companies to play by the rules, prohibiting them from dropping your coverage if you get sick, billing you into bankruptcy through annual or lifetime limits, and, soon, discriminating against anyone with a pre-existing condition.
In the past, women often had to pay more for coverage that sometimes didn’t even cover their needs – that’s changing under the health care law. Over 20 million women with private health insurance are receiving expanded preventive services with no cost-sharing, including mammograms, cervical cancer screenings, prenatal care, flu and pneumonia shots, and regular well-baby and well-child visits. What’s more, 1.1 million women between 19 and 25 who would have been uninsured, have coverage under their parent’s health insurance plan. Women are often the ones making health care decisions for the family. The health care law puts them back in charge by shining much-needed light on our health insurance marketplace and cracking down on unjustified premium hikes.
Here are more ways the law helps women:
VanessaCare: Health Coverage Without Lifetime Limits
Posted by on March 20, 2012 at 10:13 AM EDTVanessa Mishkit, a nurse in Tampa, knows firsthand what it’s like to go up against insurance companies on behalf of her child.
Her son was born with birth defects: developmentally delayed, legally blind, and near deaf. And even though Vanessa had health insurance through work at Tampa General Hospital, she was constantly fighting for her son’s coverage: He was born with a pre-existing condition.
“I had what I thought was excellent health insurance, and then after David was born we received notification that he had met his million-dollar limit and he wouldn’t be eligible for coverage,” Vanessa says.
“There are thousands and thousands of families” who are in similar situations, she says. “They can’t advocate for themselves at this time because they’re caught up in day-to-day survival.” Vanessa points out that the Affordable Care Act now prevents insurance companies from denying coverage to children with pre-existing conditions. “We fought a huge battle and now with health care reform” other families won’t have to fight just to keep their keep their children well, she says.
In 2014, insurance companies will be barred from discriminating against anyone with pre-existing conditions. Additionally, the health reform law bars low annual and lifetime caps on claims, a way that insurance companies have used to avoid paying claims.
David “has a heart of gold and now I’m looking at him and he’s 23 years old. He is learning how to take as well care of himself as he possibly can within his limitations. I’m very proud of him,” Vanessa says.
The Affordable Care Act is designed to give hard working families the peace of mind they deserve in meeting their health care needs.
If you have a story like Vanessa’s, share it at Healthcare.gov/MyCare.
By the Numbers: 20.4
Posted by on March 20, 2012 at 9:00 AM EDT
President Obama’s health reform law requires that new health insurance plans cover preventive services with no co-pay or deductible. In the last 18 months, approximately 20.4 million women with private health insurance have received preventive health services such as mammograms and pap smears at no additional cost because of this provision in the Affordable Care Act.
Besides improving access to services that help women stay healthy and detect health problems early on, health reform helps women in many other ways. For example, insurance companies are banned from imposing a limit on the amount of care they’ll cover over a woman’s lifetime, and are now required to spend at least 80 percent of premium dollars on care—not overhead.
Women who have been unable to purchase health insurance because of a pre-existing condition such as cancer or having been pregnant now have an option to obtain the insurance they need through the new Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan.
Learn more about Health Care, WomenFirst Question 3/19/12: Jay Carney Answers Your Questions on Energy and the Affordable Care Act
Posted by on March 19, 2012 at 4:30 PM EDTToday, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney announced the return of First Question, an online engagement series that utilizes social media to answer questions from people across the country. On a regular basis, the Press Secretary takes questions from the press – via First Question, he adds questions from citizens to that mix.
Through Twitter and the White House Google+ page, hundreds of people submitted their questions for Jay. He responded to questions on gas prices, tax breaks for oil companies and the Supreme Court and the Affordable Care Act. Check out the full video, or use the links below to jump to a specific question.
Do you have a question for the White House Press Secretary? Follow Jay on Twitter @PressSec, @WhiteHouse and the White House on Google+ for upcoming chances to ask your question.
Tribal Health and the Affordable Care Act
Posted by on March 19, 2012 at 3:19 PM EDTRecently, I had the privilege to speak about how the Affordable Care Act is having a positive impact in Indian Country as I joined other Administration officials in addressing the Executive Council Winter Session of the National Congress on American Indians in Washington, D.C.
Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, Indian tribes, tribal organizations and urban Indian organizations can now choose to purchase health insurance coverage for their employees through the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) program.
Learn more about Health Care
- &lsaquo previous
- …
- 89
- 90
- 91
- 92
- 93
- 94
- 95
- 96
- 97
- …
- next &rsaquo
From the Press Office
Related Videos
-
December 13, 2016 6:04 PMSigning Ceremony for the 21st Century Cures Act
-
December 10, 2016 6:00 AMWeekly Address: It’s Time to Get Covered on the Health Insurance Marketplace