How Will The Affordable Care Act Affect Women?

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare made a number of changes to health insurance coverage for American women that took affect August 1, 2012. For over a year, American women with new health insurance have been entitled to a number of medical services without having to make co-payments. Here, we will be taking a look at what they are.

• Annual well-woman visits.

• Gestational diabetes screening during pregnancy.

• Screening and counseling for domestic and interpersonal violence.

• Breastfeeding supplies and classes.

• Human papillomavirus (HPV) screening for women 30 years and older.

• Contraceptive pills, devices, education, and counseling.

• HIV screening.

And on January 1, 2014, there will even more sweeping changes in health insurance coverage for American women.

1. Health insurance policies that do not cover preventive services will no longer be permitted under a loophole in the law.

Currently, insurance plans that were already in place by March 23, 2010 have been "grandfathered in" so that they do not have to offer women's preventive healthcare services (such as contraceptive options, which can cost up to $600 per month, and annual well-woman visits). Under the law, any woman issued new health insurance coverage on or after August 1, 2012 has been entitled to 100% coverage of these services, but many companies have tried to "grandfather" even new policies. After January 1, 2014, all health insurance policies for women must pay 100% for preventive services, including contraception.

2. Women can no longer be denied coverage due to pre-existing conditions.

Under current law, many women who have had a Caesarean section or who have filed a report of domestic violence cannot obtain any health insurance at all except from state health insurance risk-pools, and only after they have had no coverage for six months. When the Affordable Care Act is fully implemented, there will be no health conditions that keep women from obtaining health coverage, ensuring medical coverage for a significant number of women.

3. Women's health insurance will include the cost of delivering a baby.

Under current law, health insurance companies can exclude coverage for giving birth or charge a deductible equal to its entire cost. When Obamacare is fully implemented, however, all individual and small-group health insurance plans for women will cover the costs of having a child.

4. Women will no longer be charged higher health insurance premiums just because they are women.

Currently, health insurance companies are allowed to set prices for policies in accordance with "gender rating," which allows the company to charge more for women's coverage at the same time certain medical procedures that are only used by women, the services of obstetricians and gynecologists, for example, aren't even covered by the policy. After January 1, 2014, women will pay the same for their coverage as men of the same age.

More Changes in Women's Health Insurance Coming with Full Implementation of Obamacare

5. Women will have more choice in their doctors under Obamacare.

Under the fully implemented health insurance law, women will no longer have to obtain a referral from their family doctors to get an appointment with an obstetrician or gynecologist. Women will also be able to choose their primary care physician and their children's pediatrician from a list of doctors participating in the health insurance plan.

6. Women will no longer have to worry about exceeding a lifetime cap on insurance coverage.

Under the old system, insurance companies were able to impose a lifetime limit for medical coverage, sometimes as little as $50,000--which may not cover even a single day in the hospital for any illness involving intensive care. Lifetime limits have already been eliminated and annual caps on coverage are already being phased out, ending next year.

7. Health insurance will be more affordable for nearly everyone.

Single women (or men) earning up to $43,000 per year and families of four with incomes of up to $92,200 per year qualify for federal subsidies that may cover part or all of their health insurance costs. Low-income women, men, and families will qualify in many states for Medicaid. Even in the 20-plus states in which Republican governors have blocked expansion of the Medicaid program, the ability to report earning at least 133% of poverty level income on the application this fall will result in enrollment in health insurance at a reduced premium cost.

8. Women, men, and families will get more "bang for their buck" from their health insurance policies.

The Affordable Care Act has already eliminated the practice of rescission, canceling a health insurance policy as soon as someone becomes sick. When the law comes fully into force, it will require insurance companies to spend 80% of the money coming in from premiums on health care for the people they insured, limiting profits to no more than 20% of the premiums.

9. Children will be covered, too.

Obamacare already requires health insurance companies to issue policies to disabled children through age 19. It already requires health insurance companies to allow parents to carry their children on their family health insurance policies through the age of 26. The Obama administration estimates that 2.5 million Americans aged between 19 and 26 have taken advantage of this provision of the law.

10. No group of women will be systematically excluded from health care coverage.

Transgendered women, lesbian women, and women of all races are entitled to equal access to health insurance coverage under the new law. In addition to prohibiting discrimination in the health insurance market, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act also increases funding for community health centers, increases funding for health education, and mandates data collection on women's health and minority health issues.

As an update, since the time this article was originally published, healthcare opportunities for women in the United States have diminished. US women are more likely than women in any other developed country to opt not to consult a doctor because they are afraid of the costs, and more likely to suffer from chronic illness than women in many other countries, as well. They are less likely to rate their quality of care as satisfactory, and their access to abortion has dwindled in recent years.