Health Care Reform

The Affordable Care Act provides vitally important advances for the health of women and their families.  As the law is implemented on the state and federal levels, and as more Americans gain access to health insurance, we’re working to ensure that new health care law benefits women as part of our effort to improve women’s health.

Highlights

Fact Sheet | Strong Public Support Continues for States to Accept Federal Funds to Cover More Uninsured People Through Medicaid

April 9, 2013

A new national survey sponsored by the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families and the National Women’s Law Center shows strong support among adults 18 and older for their states to accept federal dollars that have been allocated to cover more uninsured people through Medicaid.  The survey, conducted March 15-19, 2013 among 1,016 adults 18 and older, has a margin of error of + 4 percentage points.

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Legal Briefs & Testimony | NWLC Amicus Briefs Supporting the Contraceptive Coverage Benefit

April 30, 2013

The Center is filing friend of the court briefs in lawsuits challenging the federal contraceptive coverage benefit, brought by employers who want to deny their employees this important benefit.  These cases involve suits brought under the First Amendment to the US Constitution and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.  These cases will decide whether a boss’s religious beliefs trump women’s health and women’s access to the health care they need.

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Fact Sheet | Women’s Access to Preventive Services Affirmed by HHS

February 22, 2013

On February 20, 2013, the Department of Health and Human Services released a set of Frequently Asked Questions which clarified many issues related to implementation of the Affordable Care Act’s preventive services requirement.  The FAQ is an important step towards ensuring that insurance plans and issuers implement the Women’s Preventive Health Services provision so that women get the comprehensive and affordable services guaranteed by the Affordable Care Act.  While the FAQ leaves some implementation questions unanswered, the National Women’s Law Center is pleased that the Department addressed several major issues to make sure that women have the coverage required by the law.  The charts below summarize implementation issues and how the FAQ responds to them.

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Fact Sheet | What the Medicaid Eligibility Expansion Means for Women

November 5, 2012

The Medicaid eligibility expansion is a crucial part of the health care law. Starting in 2014, 15 million uninsured Americans, including 7 million women will be newly eligible for Medicaid coverage.  Medicaid is an effective program that has the potential to improve the health and economic wellbeing of millions of American women while at the same time saving states money and creating jobs. Medicaid is and will continue to be a crucial source of health care for low-income women in America and it is vital to women’s health that states move forward with the Medicaid eligibility expansion. In this issue brief, we will examine why the current Medicaid program is important to women and why the Medicaid expansion is a good deal for women and states.

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More Resources

Fact Sheet | Ruinous Medicaid Cuts in Ryan FY12 Budget Proposal Threatens Health Care for Women of All Ages

April 08, 2011

The Ryan FY12 budget proposal would devastate this vital health care safety-net for our most vulnerable women and families.  By arbitrarily cutting the program by $771 billion (a cut of more than 20%), and converting the program to a block grant that would cap funds to the states, states would face unpalatable options:  increase costs for recipients, reduce covered services, cut already low reimbursement rates to providers, or cut people from the program. Ultimately, millions of older, disabled, pregnant or poor women could lose their health coverage with no alternative.

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Webinars & Presentations | Understanding the Affordable Care Act - What Physicians Should Know

March 28, 2011

On Thursday, March 24, the National Women's Law Center joined the National Physician's Alliance for a webinar on what physicians need to know about the Affordable Care Act and women.

Watch the archived webinar.

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Fact Sheet | Supplemental Insurance Coverage of Abortion Only Further Encourages the End of All Private Insurance Coverage of Abortion

March 25, 2011

Attempts by states to ban insurance coverage of abortion are sweeping the nation. These bills either ban insurance coverage of abortion in every private insurance plan in the state or in plans that will be operating in state exchanges established pursuant to the new federal health care law.   These bans endanger women’s health and take away benefits that women currently have.

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Legal Briefs & Testimony | Testimony of Judy Waxman Before the Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures of the House Ways and Means Committee Hearing on the Tax-Related Provisions of H.R. 3

March 16, 2011

Testimony of Judy Waxman on the Tax-Related Provisions of H.R. 3 as modified by the manager’s amendment offered in the House Judiciary Committee, which is a dangerous and misleading bill that imposes a devastating tax increase on millions of families and small businesses that want to keep their comprehensive insurance plans that include coverage of abortion.

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Legal Briefs & Testimony | Amicus Brief: Commonwealth of VA, Ex. Rel., Cuccinelli, II, v. Sebelius

March 08, 2011

The National Women’s Law Center's “friend of the court” brief is on behalf of 31 organizations in Cuccinelli v. Sebelius, a case before the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, which is considering an appeal to a Virginia district court decision that a key provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) is unconstitutional. The brief explains what’s at stake for women in the challenge to the new health care law and why the ACA, in correcting fundamental gender inequities in the health insurance and health care markets, is an appropriate exercise of federal Commerce Clause authority and therefore is constitutional.

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