Women Will Benefit from Health Care Reform
Women are the most likely to have the greatest contact with the health care system, as they often coordinate health care for themselves and their families. Yet women face unique barriers to obtaining and paying for health care. Nearly half of all low-income women are uninsured, and those who are insured are less likely to visit the doctor because of unaffordable out-of-pocket costs. However, things are changing for the better. Thanks to health care reform, low-income women now will face dramatically fewer cost barriers to access health care. The newly passed health care reform law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, will make health care more affordable, easier to obtain and provide more comprehensive services, ensuring women receive the care they need.
Starting January 1, 2014, 8.2 million women whose incomes are at or below 133% of the federal poverty level will now be eligible for health coverage through the expansion of the Medicaid program. According to the National Women’s Law Center, up to 154,300 uninsured, low-income women in Illinois will gain health care coverage through the Medicaid expansion. Another benefit, this coverage will be more comprehensive and include family planning and contraceptive services that are, without a doubt, a plus for women.
Moderate-income women and their families will also reap the benefits from health care reform with the creation of health insurance exchanges. Women with incomes up to 400% of federal poverty level can receive tax-credits that effectively lower out-of-pocket costs and help pay for health insurance coverage. Up to 7 million uninsured women nationwide and 471,000 women in Illinois will benefit from health insurance exchanges and tax-credits.
All women will benefit from the provision that requires all new individual and small business health plans to carry an “essential benefits package”, which provides coverage for essential services such as maternity care, prescription drug coverage, and mental health services. Because of the difficulty women have finding these services in the individual market, this coverage marks a vital improvement in providing fundamental services women need.
Women stand to gain greatly from health care reform. In fact, women across socioeconomic levels have already started benefiting from health care reform. The National Women’s Law Center and the Commonwealth Fund have done extensive work to make clear what health care reform means for women. For more information on how health care reform benefits all women, read or subscribe to the latest issue of WomanView, entitled “30 Million Women Will Benefit from Health Care Reform.”
Heidy Robertson coauthored this article.
Hi. I have a question. My family's income BEFORE taxes is $43,000-$45,000, BUT I am disabled, my son has autism my daughter has mild CP and my other daughter is healthy. We are a family of 5 and pay outragous premiums, high deductabible, and copays and if you we end up in the ER or get ANY tests we pay 20% of it. I can't get my kids WIC, nor medicade nor SSI because we "make too much". That is rediculous. medicade figures in only AFTER taxes, and does NOT count mortgage, nor medical bills. Oh, and they count your second car as an ASSET??? That is crazy--when you have 3 people in a family of 5 with disabilities how do you expect them to get to dr. apts. they think all you need is the one car to go to work. even if I did work they would not see it as a necessity it is an asset..what the second car REALLY IS is EXTRA EXPENSE (more insurance, more tax, more gas more wear and tear ect.). Please fight for families like ours..tell them a family of 5 making forty something thousand is not allot especially when they have more than one person with a disability!!!! Why don't they consider that? thank you..mom of 3