The 2010 Affordable Care Act, known commonly as Obamacare, has been controversial for many reasons. Even so, many celebrate it as an advancement in women’s healthcare; some even call it the most significant improvement since 1965. Overall it is estimated that the Affordable Care Act has lowered the cost of women’s healthcare while improving the quality. Whether or not this remains the case in the coming years and decades with healthcare costs continuing to rise remains to be seen.
Better Insurance Coverage
The main goal of the Affordable Care Act was to get more people in the USA covered by health insurance and it achieved that goal, especially for women. More women are now insured than ever before.
There are also several other key benefits that women have received as a result of Obamacare such as the fact that they can no longer be charged more for health insurance than men just because they are women. This is great news for women as healthcare costs continue to increase yearly.
Like men, women also can’t be removed from their health insurance plan if they become ill. The reason this is significant for women is that many of them were getting their policies revoked when they were diagnosed with illnesses such as breast cancer or even when they became pregnant because the health insurance companies didn’t want to pay what they owed.
Preventative Services
Another big win for women with the Affordable Care Act is in the realm of preventative medicine and services. Women can now get services such as mammograms at no cost. They can also receive other perks like breastfeeding support, birth control, and women’s health checkups as well.
Likewise, maternity coverage is now included in all new health insurance plans for women. This is a massive improvement since before the ACA, 90% of plans didn’t provide any benefits for maternity services or care.
These preventative services are important because illnesses that are caught early are typically easier to treat and have a higher rate of survival. They also typically cost less to treat as well.
Legal Challenges and Regulations
Even though the provisions of the Affordable Care Act seem to be a net positive for women, there has been some pushback. One big factor of contention has been women’s improved access to birth control. Not everyone is a fan of this, especially some employers, and so they’ve taken action to deny women easy access to contraceptives.
The best example of this would be the case Burwell vs Hobby Lobby in which the Supreme Court ruled that employers do not have to provide coverage for birth control. This was followed up in 2017 when President Trump expanded this exemption to apply to both religious and moral objectors, further reducing women’s access to contraceptives. Some see this as a major blow to women’s rights and an undermining of the intent of the Affordable Care Act itself.
The Abortion Controversy
When it comes to abortion and the Affordable Care Act, things are complicated. Some states have banned abortion coverage from all plans while others allow it. The thing is, some people consider abortion to be a means of birth control while others don’t. This means that the court rulings we just went over may or may not affect abortion provisions in the ACA depending on many factors.
Generally speaking, many state Medicaid programs will only provide abortions in cases of incest and rape or if the mother’s life is in danger from the pregnancy. However, in other states, abortion is banned in all cases regardless of the circumstances. For example, if a child is raped and impregnated by a family member, they will be expected to carry that inbred pregnancy to term even if their life is in danger.
Coverage Gap
Another issue with the Affordable Care Act is the coverage gap for women. This means that women who live in states that opted not to expand Medicaid (mostly in the southeast) have a much harder time getting the benefits of the ACA. This was taken to the Supreme Court as well, but the court ruled that states had the right to opt-out if they wanted to.
The idea of a “coverage gap” itself refers to the fact that in states that opted out of the Medicaid expansion a person’s income has to fall within a certain range to be eligible for coverage. If a woman’s income is too high, she won’t qualify for Medicaid. However, if her income is too low, she also won’t qualify for exchange subsidies. As a result, hundreds of thousands of women simply don’t fall within the necessary income range to benefit from the Affordable Care Act.
Many Competing Interests
As you can see, women’s health under the Affordable Care Act is complicated. This is because there are many different interests and forces all competing with one another to improve women’s healthcare or to handicap it. Women’s rights activists naturally want better and cheaper healthcare for women while insurance and healthcare companies just want bigger profits every quarter. On the flip side, many women want easier access to contraceptives and abortion services while many religious organizations and employers want to limit or outright eliminate access to those provisions.
So far, the Supreme Court has sided with the interests of businesses and religious organizations when cases concerning the Affordable Care Act have been brought to them. Taking into account the Supreme Court’s current roster, it wouldn’t be surprising to see more women’s provisions being restricted or eliminated from the ACA in the years to come.
It’s also worth noting that many states are still working to legally restrict or eliminate women’s provisions from the Affordable Care Act as well. While many of these may be challenged in court, it is pretty obvious how the Supreme Court will rule on the matter.
One Step Forward, Two Steps Back
Overall the Affordable Care Act did improve women’s access to healthcare even though it did little to address concerns about rising healthcare costs overall. Every year more Americans file for bankruptcy over medical debt than anything else and this includes women.
Also, many of the provisions that women enjoyed under the Affordable Care Act are being restricted and eliminated each time they are challenged in court. It isn’t hard to predict that at this rate just about any provision supporting women’s healthcare could be revoked by the Supreme Court at any time. This being the case, women who value their health might want to consider moving to less restrictive states where getting women’s health services is easier for the time being.
The 2010 Affordable Care Act, known commonly as Obamacare, has been controversial for many reasons. Even so, many celebrate it as an advancement in women’s healthcare; some even call it the most significant improvement since 1965. Overall it is estimated that the Affordable Care Act has lowered the cost of women’s healthcare while improving the quality. Whether or not this remains the case in the coming years and decades with healthcare costs continuing to rise remains to be seen.
Better Insurance Coverage
The main goal of the Affordable Care Act was to get more people in the USA covered by health insurance and it achieved that goal, especially for women. More women are now insured than ever before.
There are also several other key benefits that women have received as a result of Obamacare such as the fact that they can no longer be charged more for health insurance than men just because they are women. This is great news for women as healthcare costs continue to increase yearly.
Like men, women also can’t be removed from their health insurance plan if they become ill. The reason this is significant for women is that many of them were getting their policies revoked when they were diagnosed with illnesses such as breast cancer or even when they became pregnant because the health insurance companies didn’t want to pay what they owed.
Preventative Services
Another big win for women with the Affordable Care Act is in the realm of preventative medicine and services. Women can now get services such as mammograms at no cost. They can also receive other perks like breastfeeding support, birth control, and women’s health checkups as well.
Likewise, maternity coverage is now included in all new health insurance plans for women. This is a massive improvement since before the ACA, 90% of plans didn’t provide any benefits for maternity services or care.
These preventative services are important because illnesses that are caught early are typically easier to treat and have a higher rate of survival. They also typically cost less to treat as well.
Legal Challenges and Regulations
Even though the provisions of the Affordable Care Act seem to be a net positive for women, there has been some pushback. One big factor of contention has been women’s improved access to birth control. Not everyone is a fan of this, especially some employers, and so they’ve taken action to deny women easy access to contraceptives.
The best example of this would be the case Burwell vs Hobby Lobby in which the Supreme Court ruled that employers do not have to provide coverage for birth control. This was followed up in 2017 when President Trump expanded this exemption to apply to both religious and moral objectors, further reducing women’s access to contraceptives. Some see this as a major blow to women’s rights and an undermining of the intent of the Affordable Care Act itself.
The Abortion Controversy
When it comes to abortion and the Affordable Care Act, things are complicated. Some states have banned abortion coverage from all plans while others allow it. The thing is, some people consider abortion to be a means of birth control while others don’t. This means that the court rulings we just went over may or may not affect abortion provisions in the ACA depending on many factors.
Generally speaking, many state Medicaid programs will only provide abortions in cases of incest and rape or if the mother’s life is in danger from the pregnancy. However, in other states, abortion is banned in all cases regardless of the circumstances. For example, if a child is raped and impregnated by a family member, they will be expected to carry that inbred pregnancy to term even if their life is in danger.
Coverage Gap
Another issue with the Affordable Care Act is the coverage gap for women. This means that women who live in states that opted not to expand Medicaid (mostly in the southeast) have a much harder time getting the benefits of the ACA. This was taken to the Supreme Court as well, but the court ruled that states had the right to opt-out if they wanted to.
The idea of a “coverage gap” itself refers to the fact that in states that opted out of the Medicaid expansion a person’s income has to fall within a certain range to be eligible for coverage. If a woman’s income is too high, she won’t qualify for Medicaid. However, if her income is too low, she also won’t qualify for exchange subsidies. As a result, hundreds of thousands of women simply don’t fall within the necessary income range to benefit from the Affordable Care Act.
Many Competing Interests
As you can see, women’s health under the Affordable Care Act is complicated. This is because there are many different interests and forces all competing with one another to improve women’s healthcare or to handicap it. Women’s rights activists naturally want better and cheaper healthcare for women while insurance and healthcare companies just want bigger profits every quarter. On the flip side, many women want easier access to contraceptives and abortion services while many religious organizations and employers want to limit or outright eliminate access to those provisions.
So far, the Supreme Court has sided with the interests of businesses and religious organizations when cases concerning the Affordable Care Act have been brought to them. Taking into account the Supreme Court’s current roster, it wouldn’t be surprising to see more women’s provisions being restricted or eliminated from the ACA in the years to come.
It’s also worth noting that many states are still working to legally restrict or eliminate women’s provisions from the Affordable Care Act as well. While many of these may be challenged in court, it is pretty obvious how the Supreme Court will rule on the matter.
One Step Forward, Two Steps Back
Overall the Affordable Care Act did improve women’s access to healthcare even though it did little to address concerns about rising healthcare costs overall. Every year more Americans file for bankruptcy over medical debt than anything else and this includes women.
Also, many of the provisions that women enjoyed under the Affordable Care Act are being restricted and eliminated each time they are challenged in court. It isn’t hard to predict that at this rate just about any provision supporting women’s healthcare could be revoked by the Supreme Court at any time. This being the case, women who value their health might want to consider moving to less restrictive states where getting women’s health services is easier for the time being.
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