Fact Sheets
A Timeline for Upcoming Federal Budget Decisions
September 06, 2012
Over the next six months, Congress will face a series of decisions that will shape federal budget priorities for years to come. This fact sheet explains the timeline for key decision points ahead.
The Importance of Medicare for Women
August 29, 2012
Women constitute more than half of the individuals with Medicare. The program is therefore critically important to preserving the health and well-being of our mothers and grandmothers. Because women, on average, are poorer, live longer and have more health care needs than men, Medicare (sometimes combined with Medicaid) potentially plays a greater role for them in preventing illness and destitution. Any changes to the Medicare program that would increase cost-sharing or reduce services would be especially harmful to women, so it is important for women’s health and economic well-being that that the Medicare program is protected.
A Woman's Guide to Combating Voter Suppression
August 27, 2012
All men and women should be equal in the voting booth, but new state laws may dramatically impact women’s ability to vote in the 2012 election. Since 2011, 16 states have passed restrictive voting laws, 11 states currently have these new laws in effect, and 41 states have introduced at least 180 bills restricting voting. These campaigns to restrict voting rights have gone far beyond preventing the rare case of ineligible voters casting ballots and are now taking away eligible citizens’ fundamental right to vote. In order to make your voice heard, make sure you know the voting rules in your state.
Denying Coverage of Contraceptives Harms Women
August 13, 2012
The IOM released its findings on July 19, 2011, recommending coverage and no cost-sharing for a range of important women's preventive health services including screening for cervical cancer; critical health services for pregnant women, including breastfeeding support; screening for intimate partner violence; and all FDA-approved forms of contraception.3 HHS adopted the IOM's recommendations on August 1, 2011. Unfortunately, HHS has included in its Interim Final Rules (IFR) a provision that would allow certain religious employers to exclude contraceptive services from their employees' health plans. Rather than giving all women true contraceptive access, the exemption arbitrarily precludes certain women from receiving needed preventive care. Women who work for employers who invoke an exemption will not receive the intended benefits, and will be required to pay for what the IOM and HHS itself have determined should be available with no co-pay.
Time to Pay Their Fair Share: States Can’t Afford to Extend the Bush-Era Tax Cuts for the Wealthy Few
August 02, 2012
These state-by-state reports, co-authored by the National Women’s Law Center, Citizens for Tax Justice, and Americans for Tax Fairness, show how competing approaches to the Bush tax cuts affect taxpayers in that state and funding the state relies on to improve education, enroll children in Head Start, provide school breakfasts and deliver meals to frail elders, repair highways and ensure clean drinking water.
Guaranteeing Coverage of Contraceptives: Past and Present
August 01, 2012
A timeline looking at the fight to gain contraceptive coverage.
H.R. 8 Leaves No Millionaire Behind but Ends Tax Cuts for a Third of Families with Children
July 31, 2012
This fact sheet explains the damaging effects of H.R. 8, a bill that would extend tax cuts for the richest two percent of Americans while ending tax breaks for low and moderate-income families.
Women’s Preventive Health Services in the Health Care Law: What Students Should Know
July 30, 2012
The health care law makes preventive care more accessible and affordable to millions of Americans by requiring all new plans to cover certain women’s preventive health services and screenings without cost-sharing.
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