Before health reform, too many Americans didn\u2019t get the preventive care they need to stay healthy, avoid or delay the onset of disease, lead productive lives, and reduce health care costs. Often because of cost, Americans used preventive services at about half the recommended rate.<\/p>\n
Yet chronic diseases \u2013 which are responsible for 7 of 10 deaths among Americans each year and account for 75% of the nation\u2019s health spending \u2013 often are preventable. Cost sharing (including copayments, co-insurance, and deductibles) reduces the likelihood that preventive services will be used. Especially concerning for women are studies showing that even moderate copays for preventive services such as mammograms or Pap smears result in fewer women obtaining this care.<\/p>\n
The Affordable Care Act, the health insurance reform legislation passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama on March 23, 2010, helps make prevention affordable and accessible for all Americans by requiring health plans to cover recommended preventive services without cost sharing.<\/p>\n
Under the Affordable Care Act, women\u2019s preventive health care services \u2013 such as mammograms, screenings for cervical cancer, and other services \u2013 are already covered with no cost sharing under some health plans. The Affordable Care Act also made recommended preventive services free for people on Medicare.<\/p>\n
In 2011, 54 million Americans with private health insurance gained access to preventive services with no cost sharing because of the law. However, the law recognizes and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) understands the need to take into account the unique health needs of women throughout their lifespan.<\/p>\n
On August 1, 2011, HHS adopted additional Guidelines for Women\u2019s Preventive Services \u2013 including well-woman visits, support for breastfeeding equipment, contraception, and domestic violence screening and counseling \u2013 that will be covered without cost sharing in new health plans starting in August 2012. The guidelines were recommended by the independent Institute of Medicine (IOM) and based on scientific evidence.<\/p>\n
Beginning on Aug. 1, about 47 million women will now have guaranteed access to additional preventive services without paying more at the doctor\u2019s office for policies renewing on or after August 1, 2012.<\/p>\n
Under the law, many private plans also must cover regular well-baby and well-child visits without cost sharing. With the addition of these new benefits, the Affordable Care Act continues to make wellness and prevention services affordable and accessible for more and more Americans.<\/p>\n
When it comes to health, women are often the primary decision-maker for their families and the trusted source in circles of friends. They are also key consumers of health care. Women have unique needs and have high rates of chronic disease, including diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.<\/p>\n
While women are more likely to need preventive health care services, they often have less ability to pay. On average they have lower incomes than men and a greater share of their income is consumed by out-of-pocket health costs. A report by the Commonwealth Fund found that in 2009 more than half of women delayed or avoided necessary care because of cost. Removing cost-sharing requirements lets women decide which preventive services they\u2019ll use and when. In fact, one study found that the rate of women getting a mammogram went up as much as 9% when cost sharing was removed. In addition to saving lives by catching cancer early, mammograms can also protect families from skyrocketing medical bills that result from treating the advanced stages of the disease.<\/p>\n
The Affordable Care Act helps make prevention affordable and accessible for all Americans by requiring new health plans to cover and eliminate cost sharing for preventive services recommended by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, and the Bright Futures Guidelines recommended by the Academy of Pediatrics.<\/p>\n
The law also requires insurance companies to cover additional preventive health benefits for women. For the first time, HHS is adopting new guidelines for women\u2019s preventive services to fill the gaps in current preventive services guidelines for women\u2019s health, ensuring a comprehensive set of preventive services for women.<\/p>\n
Previously, preventive services for women had been recommended one-by-one or as part of guidelines targeted at men as well. HHS directed the IIOM, for the first time ever, to conduct a scientific review and provide recommendations on specific preventive measures that meet women\u2019s unique health needs and help keep them healthy. HHS based its Guidelines for Women\u2019s Preventive Services on the IOM report issued July 19, 2011.<\/p>\n
The eight new additional women\u2019s preventive services that will be covered without cost-sharing requirements include:<\/p>\n
The coverage of these preventive services gives Americans access to many of the services already offered to Members of Congress. In addition, not only are these services similar to a list of preventive services recommended by the National Business Group on Health, but many private employers already cover these services.<\/p>\n
New private health plans must cover the guidelines on women\u2019s preventive services with no cost sharing in plan years starting on or after August 1, 2012.<\/p>\n
In order to increase access to proven preventive care while protecting religious liberty, the guidelines exempt the health plans of certain religious employers from the requirement to cover contraceptive services. The Administration intends to establish accommodations for additional religious organizations so they will not have to contract or pay for contraceptive services; women who work for these organizations will have alternative access to contraceptive coverage without cost sharing. In the meantime, nonprofit organizations that have consistently not been providing some subset or all of the required contraceptive coverage because of their religious beliefs consistent with any applicable state law are not subject to enforcement by the federal government for one year.<\/p>\n
In addition, the rules governing coverage of preventive services, which allow plans to use reasonable medical management to help define the nature of the covered service, also apply to women\u2019s preventive services. Plans will retain the flexibility to control costs and promote efficient delivery of care by, for example, continuing to charge cost sharing for branded drugs if a generic version is available and just as effective and safe.<\/p>\n
See\u00a0Final Rule<\/a>\u00a0and fact sheet on\u00a0Women\u2019s Preventive Services and Religious Institutions<\/a>.<\/p>\n Not all Americans have equal access to health care. Low-income and racial and ethnic minorities often have higher rates of disease, fewer treatment options, and reduced access to care. By eliminating cost sharing requirements, the Affordable Care Act helps improve access to comprehensive quality health care for all women. Secure, affordable coverage is quickly become a reality for millions of American women and families.<\/p>\n For more information on women\u2019s preventive services, use the resources below:<\/p>\n Before health reform, too many Americans didn\u2019t get the preventive care they need to stay healthy, avoid or delay the onset of disease, lead productive lives, and reduce health care costs. Often because of cost, Americans used preventive services at about half the recommended rate. Yet chronic diseases \u2013 which are responsible for 7 of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":174,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegroupforwomen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegroupforwomen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegroupforwomen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegroupforwomen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegroupforwomen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=453"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thegroupforwomen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2530,"href":"https:\/\/thegroupforwomen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453\/revisions\/2530"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegroupforwomen.com\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegroupforwomen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegroupforwomen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegroupforwomen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The Law Means Better Health and Fewer Health Disparities for Women<\/h2>\n
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