Womenstake

The Ghost of Illness Past: Health Care Reform Law Gives Hope to Those with Pre-existing Conditions

by Thao Nguyen, Outreach Manager, 
National Women's Law Center 

During the health care reform debate, my family called me on a daily basis to get updates. Yes, part of it was that they were concerned about long work hours, my diet consisting of grilled cheese sandwiches and Ramen, and my overall sanity. But it was also because my family, like millions of Americans around the country, felt that advocating for passage of reform was the only way that they could control our hopeless situation—my mom’s inability to get health insurance because of an illness in her teenage years. Her past had come back to haunt her, and now the insurance industry had branded her with a "pre-existing condition" label.

As a former small business owner of nearly 20 years and a current non-profit employee, my mom has dedicated her life to ensuring that our family had the best medical care possible. When my father was laid off, she selflessly took a second job on top of running her daycare to make sure our family had good health insurance. With her children all grown, my mother decided to follow her dream of working for a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of Vietnamese-American immigrants. But with the crumbling California economy, the organization took a hit and her hours and benefits were cut. A short gap in her insurance before taking the job meant my mom suddenly was one of millions of Americans with a pre-existing condition unable to get coverage.

What’s Your State’s Grade? Health Reform Will Improve Your Health Report

by Grace Lesser, Program Assistant,
National Women's Law Center

This week marks National Women’s Health Week, a week that encourages us to improve women’s health in this country and ensure that all women can access medical services, receive fair treatment, and make healthy choices. Later this year, NWLC will be releasing a timely analysis of women’s health issues in our 2010 edition of Making the Grade on Women’s Health: A National and State-by-State Report Card. The Health Report Card will provide a new comprehensive look at the current state of women’s health status and health policies across the nation, and will also track how states have improved (or ignored) women’s health services over the past three years.

The 2007 Health Report Card demonstrated loud and clear that our nation was not meeting the health needs of America’s women. This year, while states are still lagging far behind where they ought to be, the passage of health reform offers us much to look forward to. Our 2010 Health Report Card will include a special insert about the positive impact of health reform on many of our women’s health indicators.

Health Reform’s Progressive Credentials: Exhibit A - the Medicaid Expansion

by Julia Kaye, Health Policy Associate, 
National Women's Law Center 

Back when the public plan option was dropped from the health reform bill, I recall that many of my friends were deeply disheartened. "Without it," they wondered, "is this bill really the progressive victory we’d hoped and fought for?" I confidently assured them that it was and offered plenty of evidence to support my claims: an end to insurance company discrimination against women and people who get sick, and health insurance subsidies to make coverage more affordable for low- and moderate-income families, to name two. But the Medicaid expansion—a provision that will make up to 4.5 million uninsured low-income women newly eligible for comprehensive health insurance coverage —was Exhibit A.

Thinking back on that conversation now, I’m reminded of a comment that a colleague—and long-time Medicaid expert—made the day after health reform was signed into law; it was her words that really drove home for me the magnitude of our accomplishment. "I have all this useless knowledge now!" she joked. "Which states don’t provide Medicaid coverage to childless adults at any income level; how many states have income thresholds for working parents below 75 percent of poverty—now that Medicaid will be expanded to everyone with incomes at or below 133 percent of the federal poverty level, I don’t need to worry about it anymore!"

Wasting Women's Time with Abortion Restrictions

by Jen Swedish, Health Law Fellow, 
National Women's Law Center

As you are probably aware, this is National Women’s Health Week, and the theme is “It’s Your Time.”  Since Monday, my colleagues have blogged and vlogged about the importance of timing for women in health care – and health insurance coverage, in particular. 

Timing is also crucial for women seeking reproductive health care services.  Twenty-four states currently require women to receive counseling and then wait, usually for 24 hours, before they can receive abortion care.  Proponents of these laws often argue that the counseling and waiting period is essential to ensure that a woman seriously considers the information she has been given before she decides to have an abortion.  Opponents, on the other hand, contend that women are able to make informed decisions about their pregnancies without state-mandated counseling and waiting periods. 

A new report from our friends at the Guttmacher Institute provides fodder for the opponents’ arguments.  Guttmacher found that these laws do not, in fact, cause women to change their minds about having an abortion and, in reality, have very little impact on birth and abortion rates.  A troubling finding of the report indicates that mandatory counseling and waiting period laws may actually postpone the timing of some abortions, increasing the likelihood of more expensive and less safe second-trimester procedures.

As National Women’s Health Week draws to a close, I’d like to emphasize that mandatory counseling and waiting period laws needlessly waste women’s valuable time without benefiting their health. 

It's Our Time: Let's Spend Less of It Worrying about Health Insurance

by Brigette Courtot, Policy Analyst, 
National Women's Law Center

This post is part of a series on Women and Health Reform.

If you haven’t already heard, this is National Women’s Health Week, and—as Julia pointed out in yesterday’s blog—the theme this year is “It’s Your Time.”  As in, this is women’s time to get informed and take action to improve their health.  While I appreciate the theme’s intent, my take on women’s time is a little different.  Time is valuable.  There never seems to be enough of it.  And way too much of women’s valuable time is spent worrying about health insurance.  How many women do you know who spend their time worrying about how to get health insurance, how to keep it, how to use it, what it covers, how much out-of-pocket spending it requires…and so on?  

I can think of several women in my own life, right off the bat.  Last year, my partner and I spent far too many hours figuring out the cost implications of getting job-based coverage singly versus as a family—all because federal tax laws treat health coverage for same-sex couples differently from the coverage that heterosexual couples have (2 guesses as to which couple gets a raw deal).  A few months ago, my mother-in-law spent the better part of a week figuring out what consequences her participation in a clinical cancer trial would have on her supplemental Medigap coverage.  A neighbor lost his job this past winter, and his wife spent hours researching how she might quickly get her whole family—including her 9-month-old baby—affordable health insurance, and then more time pleading with her own workplace to waive their plan’s waiting period so the family would not experience a dangerous gap in coverage.

I recently blogged about another friend’s health insurance nightmare; unfortunately that ordeal is still taking up way too much of her time.  Let’s not forget the good friend who had a covert courthouse wedding months before her church ceremony so that she could qualify for her partner’s job-based coverage—she agonized over that for more than a month.  Enough already!  It doesn’t have to be like this!  That’s why we’re fighting for health reform that provides women and their families with a guarantee of affordable, comprehensive health coverage—coverage that is easy to get, keep, understand, and use.  For women, health reform holds the promise of less time spent worrying about health insurance, and more time to devote to the things that bring us happiness.

Don't be Fooled into Thinking that Your Employer-Sponsored Coverage Protects You from Pre-Existing Conditions Exclusions

by Julia Kaye, Health Policy Associate, 
National Women's Law Center 

Yesterday, Thao vlogged that she fears facing the world of health insurance with a pre-existing condition. Unfortunately, the experience of another one of our colleagues reinforces what we already knew: Thao’s concerns are warranted. It’s common knowledge by this point that in the individual health insurance market, having a pre-existing condition can be enough to get your application for coverage rejected or—and this is the good news—“only” have coverage excluded for all services necessary for the treatment of that condition. 

But women who receive coverage through an employer shouldn’t be lulled into complacency, either.  In the group health insurance markets, whether or not you one day receive a letter in the mail informing you that the medically necessary services you’d received several months earlier—which are covered under your plan—are, in fact, not going to be covered for you because they may or may not be related to a disease that you’d conquered a year earlier, and so, surprise!, you now owe over $6000, is primarily a question of timing. In honor of National Women’s Health Week’s “It’s Your Time” theme, I wanted to share with you the experience of one of my colleagues, who’s learned the hard way that if too many or too few days are crossed off your calendar, your insurance company may be able to deny you coverage for certain important services (yes, even if you have insurance through your employer).

*My colleague has chosen to remain anonymous as she’s currently in the midst of the insurance company battle we describe here.

Age and occupation?

I’m 24; I work as a program assistant at a non-profit.

When and how did you learn that certain health care services that you’d received during the previous year were being denied by your insurer?  What is the insurer’s argument?

The Importance of Health Care Reform – My Story

by Thao Nguyen, Outreach Manager, 
National Women's Law Center 

For National Women’s Health Week, I’m sharing my own health care story. In our broken health care system, worrying about my health comes second to worrying about medical debt.

Watch the video

Celebrate National Women's Health Week!

by Ellen Newcomb, Program Assistant, 
National Women's Law Center 

Yesterday was the kickoff of National Women’s Health Week and the Office of Women’s Health is encouraging women to celebrate by making positive changes to their lifestyles that will promote good health. Women are encouraged to eat a nutritious diet, avoid risky behaviors such as smoking or not wearing a seatbelt, exercise regularly, and to take care of their mental health by avoiding stress and getting plenty of sleep.

To get the ball rolling for the week, the Office of Women’s Health has deemed today, May 11, as National Women’s Checkup Day. They have provided an online health screening tool that women can use to see what preventive care health services they need according to their age. After using the screening tool, women can fill out a pledge proclaiming that they will set up an appointment with their doctor to take care of recommended tests and immunizations within ninety days. Sounds great, right? Well… yes. If you have access to a health care provider and can afford it. Which leaves a lot of women out of luck.

Almost one in five women in the United States doesn’t have health insurance and the number is growing as layoffs and bankruptcies continue. One in four women reports not being able to afford her medical bills. Women across the country are struggling to pay for health care and due to prohibitive costs, women are more likely than men – regardless of insurance status – to have left a prescription unfilled, not seen a specialist when needed, skipped a medical test, treatment, or follow-up, or had a medical problem but not seen a doctor or clinic.

This leaves these millions of women and their families with a huge dilemma. Do you go to the doctor and get the tests you need – even if it means not paying the rent this month? Or do you keep your fingers crossed, pray for the best and avoid spending any money on health care?

7 Reasons Why Health Savings Accounts are No Solution for the Health Care Crisis

by Judy Waxman, Vice President for Health and Reproductive Rights
National Women’s Law Center

This post is part of a daily series for National Women's Health Week and a weekly series on Women and Health Reform.

Comprehensive and affordable health coverage gives women access to the health care that is vital to their well-being. But this coverage is out of reach for far too many women and their families - that’s why we need real health reform that will help women and their families get the health care they need. 

Yesterday, I testified before Congress on why so-called “consumer-driven health care” and Health Savings Accounts do not qualify as the comprehensive and affordable health coverage we need in health reform. Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) are tax-sheltered accounts for individuals enrolled in high-deductible health plans (HDHPs), and proponents of these consumer-driven arrangements state that they encourage saving for future health care expenses and allow consumers more control over health care choices. In my testimony, I laid out seven reasons why consumer-driven health care is a short-sighted remedy that fails to address the real obstacles to health care for Americans, especially lower-income women:

It Should Shock You

by Julia Kaye, Health Policy Associate
National Women’s Law Center

This post is part of a daily series for National Women's Health Week.

I’ve noticed that the phrase “particularly women of color” shows up in a lot of our health-related fact sheets and reports. It seems that almost every time we write about women’s ongoing battles with the health care system, women of color have it worse. Our Report Card on Women’s Health pointed out that lack of health insurance is a problem for many women, but all the more so for women of color — for example, while 18 percent of all women in the United States are uninsured, nearly 38 percent of Hispanic women are without insurance. Women disproportionately suffer the consequences of unprotected sexual activity, such as unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections — but Black women are at especially high risk for both, especially HIV/AIDS. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender women of color, at the intersection of two minority communities, suffer from particularly severe health disparities.

The fact that women of color are disproportionately affected by the failures of the U.S. health care system has become so “obvious” that I fear it has lost its shock factor — and sometime it takes a little shock to move us out of complicity and into action. In honor of National Women’s Health Week, let’s remind ourselves that these realities need not be inevitabilities — so long as we take pointed action to identify the scope of the health disparities among women and their many underlying causes, and then develop and implement both short- and long-term health reform strategies to eradicate them.

TODAY at 1pm, the Kaiser Family Foundation is broadcasting a live webcast on State Initiatives to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. (The webcast will be permanently available here if you miss the live broadcast.)