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New Report: Health Reform Law Will Insure Nearly All Uninsured Woman By 2014, Make Health Care More Affordable For Millions Of Women

SOURCE: Medical News Today

DATE:  May 11, 2011

EXCERPT:  "Forty-four percent of women reported problems paying medical bills or having medical debt, an increase of 38 percent from 2005. This means that an estimated 42 million women are either not able to pay their medical bills, have changed their way of life in order to pay medical bills, have been contacted by a collections agency about medical bills, or they are paying off medical debt over time. These struggles add up to real consequences for women and their families, with one third (32%) of women who reported a medical bill problem also reporting they were unable to pay for basic things like food, rent, or heat because of medical bills. More than 2 in 5 (41%) said they had used up all their savings to pay their medical bills and one-quarter took on credit card debt.

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"The Affordable Care Act couldn't come at a better time for women whose health and financial security has been increasingly in jeopardy over the past ten years," said Commonwealth Fund President Karen Davis. "Moving forward it will be crucial for the health reform law to be implemented quickly and effectively so the millions of uninsured women and those with poor health insurance in the United States can finally afford the health insurance and health care they need." "  more

Women and the Affordable Care Act

SOURCE:  HealthCare.gov

DATE:  February 21, 2011

EXCERPT:  "Women have unique health care needs, and often make health care decisions for their families. The law offers important benefits for women and their families."  more

Social Security's Value For Women

SOURCE:  Medical News Today

DATE:  December 28, 2010

EXCERPT: "Without Social Security, research indicates that about half of women age 65 and older would be living in poverty. With the program in place, the poverty rate for women falls to 12 percent. These facts - paired with recommended future courses of action - are presented in the latest installment of the Public Policy & Aging Research Brief series from the National Academy on an Aging Society, the public policy branch of The Gerontological Society of America (GSA).The new publication, "For Millions of Older Women, Social Security Is a Lifeline," was funded by grant support from The Retirement Research Foundation and represents a current synthesis of knowledge about Social Security's long-term impact on women's financial security."   more

RELATED LINK:

"For Millions of Older Women, Social Security Is a Lifeline" can be purchased here.

Women Big Winners With Health Reform Law

SOURCE:  MedPage Today

DATE:  July 30, 2010

EXCERPT: "An estimated 30 million women will be helped by the new health reform law over the next 10 years, according to a report from The Commonwealth Fund. "While women are just as likely as men to be uninsured, they are more likely [than men] to have trouble buying coverage on the individual market," Karen Davis, PhD, president of the fund, said in a teleconference announcing the report's release. "This report provides good news to all women who will be more likely to get care they need while providing more relief from] medical bills."

Nearly 17 million U.S. women -- 18% -- were uninsured in 2008, noted Sara Collins, PhD, vice-president of the Commonwealth Fund."   more

Health Reform Law Will Benefit Women With Individual, Small Group Insurance

SOURCE: Medical News Today

DATE:  April 25, 2010

EXCERPT: "NPR's "Morning Edition" on Friday examined how the new health reform law could "improve women's experiences" with health insurance in the individual and small group markets.  Under the current system, many health insurers deny or refuse to offer individual or small group coverage for gender-specific conditions, such as female infertility or having a previous caesarean section. Health insurers also frequently charge women higher premiums than men for the same coverage.  ...   [and] can be charged up to 84% more than men for similar policies that do not include maternity coverage."   more

Health Reform Law Prohibits Gender Rating, Offers Other Benefits For Women's Health

SOURCE:  Medical News Today

DATE:  March 31, 2010

EXCERPT: "Under the recently signed health reform law (HR 3590), health insurance companies will no longer be able to charge women more than men for the same insurance policies, ending a practice known as "gender rating," the New York Times reports. In the past, insurance companies "took full advantage" of the lack of restrictions on gender rating in the individual insurance market, arguing that women should pay more for health coverage because they tend to use the health system more than men, the Times reports."    more

RELATED LINKS:

National Partnership for Women & Families.  March 30, 2010. The Daily Women's Health: Policy Report.  Top Headlines: Health Reform Law Prohibits Gender Rating, Offers Other Benefits For Women's Health.

The National Women's Law Center Reports Download both reports here:

• Still Nowhere to Turn: Insurance Companies Treat Women Like a Pre-Existing Condition. 2010
• Nowhere to Turn: How the Individual Health Insurance Market Fails Women. 2008. [landmark report]

Health Reform Legislation Expected To Have Major Benefits For Women

SOURCE: Medical News Today

DATE:  March 25, 2010

Excerpt: "The health reform law (HR 3590) that President Obama signed Tuesday could have an "especially large" impact on women in the U.S., who make the majority of family health care decisions and generally live longer than men, Forbes Woman reports. According to the Department of Labor, women make an estimated 80% of health care decisions for their families. Women also tend to require more medical care over longer periods of time, and they have unique health care needs, such as pregnancy care."  more

RELATED LINKS:

National Partnership for Women & Families. 

Health Insurance Reform

FACT SHEETS

Women's Health Policy Facts: Women's Health Insurance Coverage. [fact sheet].  October 2008.  Washington, D.C.: The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. 

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PUBLICATIONS

Health and Health Care Access Among California Women Ages 50-64.  February 24, 2010. UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. 

Health Care and the 2008 Elections: Women's Health Policy. October 2008. Washington, D.C.: The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. 

Many U.S. Women Short on Health Insurance.

National Report Card on Women’s Health: Women and Health Insurance.  From the National Women’s Law Center and Oregon Health & Science University

Roadblocks to Health Care: Why the Current Health Care System DOES NOT Work for WOMEN.
From Health Reform.gov

Women and Health Care: A National Profile: Key Findings from the Kaiser Women's Health Survey. July 2005. Washington, D.C.: The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. 

Women and Health Coverage: The Affordability Gap.  By Elizabeth M. Patchias and Judy Waxman, National Women’s Law Center

Women's Health and Health Reform: The Economic Burden of Disease in Women.  [2009]. Washington, D.C.: Jacobs Institute of Women’s Health, School of Public Health and Health Services, George Washington University [made possible by the Women Donors Network and the Communications Consortium Media Center].  Podcast.   Press release.

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ORGANIZATIONS & INITIATIVES

The Jacobs Institute of Women's Health, School of Public Health and Health Services, George Washington University.  Women's Health and Health Care Reform. 

Raising Women's Voices. 2009. Avery Institute for Social Change , the National Women’s Health Network, and the MergerWatch Project  of Community Catalyst .

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Kaiser Health News Examines Issue Of Gender Rating In Health Reform Debate

SOURCE:  Medical News Today

DATE:  October 29. 3009

EXCERPT: "Kaiser Health News recently examined how health care reform legislation may affect the insurance industry practice known as gender rating, in which insurers use gender as a factor in determining the cost of policies. The practice often results in women paying more than men for similar policies because they typically use more medical services, such as maternity and reproductive health care. Some advocacy groups argue that using gender as a basis to charge more for health insurance is discriminatory and are pushing for it to be made illegal under health reform, according to KHN."    more

RELATED LINK:

Gold, Jenny. Fight Erupts over Health Insurance Rates for Businesses with more Women. Kaiser Health News. TOPICS: Health Disparities, Health Reform, Insurance.  October 25, 2009.

Newsweek Examines Issue Of Gender Rating In Health Reform Debate

SOURCE:  Medical News Today

DATE:  October 21, 2009

EXCERPT:  "Newsweek's Sarah Kliff recently examined the health insurance industry practice known as gender rating and the issue's role in the health reform debate. Kliff reports that in the current individual insurance market, gender is among the many factors that health insurers "routinely use to predict a consumer's costs and thus the price of their premiums." While the insurance industry says the practice is "smart business," others call it "outright discrimination" that leaves many women unable to afford coverage, according to Kliff."  more