Increasing Awareness of Women’s Health During National Breast Cancer Awareness Month

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month – a fitting time for women to think about how aware we are of our health, the choices and challenges we face, and the options out there that help keep us healthy.

With medical advancements and increasing public awareness, we’ve come a long way in preventing and treating breast cancer, but it remains a devastating disease – breast cancer is still the second leading cause of cancer death for women in this country.

Changes to our health care system are making it easier for women to access important preventive services and treatment for serious health issues like breast cancer. The new health care law, the Affordable Care Act, removes financial barriers to screening mammograms in both Medicare and new health insurance plans, making them available to millions of women with no cost-sharing requirement.

Last year, more than 6 million women got mammograms without co-pays through Medicare.

The Affordable Care Act makes other critical preventive services available to many women with no out-of-pocket costs. As of August 1, 2012, new plans are required to provide certain women’s preventive services without cost sharing as they enter their next coverage year. In many cases, this new coverage will kick in January 2013. For example, many women will be able to schedule well-woman visits with their doctors to review their health risks – including their risks for breast cancer – and receive important screening services without a copayment.

If you’re wondering if your health insurance provides these preventive services to you with no out-of-pocket costs, now is the time to find out. We know getting information from your insurance company can be a hassle to say the least, so we’ve created this guide to help you get answers.

In addition to increasing access to preventive services, the Affordable Care Act cracks down on discriminatory policies in the private health insurance market that prevent women with breast cancer and other conditions from getting life-saving care. Insurance companies can no longer cancel coverage when you get sick or put lifetime financial limits on coverage. Starting in 2014, insurance companies will no longer be able to deny women access to health coverage because of a pre-existing condition like breast cancer.

After all, co-payments and insurance company practices should not prevent women from getting life-saving health care.

Let’s use this month, National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, to get informed and be proactive about our health. With help from the Affordable Care Act, many of us now have, or will soon have, increased access to preventive services. The health care law also makes it easier for women to make the best possible decisions about their health by keeping insurance companies from getting in between women and the care they need.