New Hotline Helps Women Obtain No Co-Pay Health Care Services, National Women's Law Center Announces

(Washington, D.C.) The National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) has launched a new service to assist women who aren’t receiving preventive health services without a co-pay, as required by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The service, called PILL4US, includes a phone script, flow chart for women to use when talking to health insurance plan representatives, and a list of sample questions.

Women who encounter barriers or are denied coverage to which they are entitled can contact the National Women’s Law Center at 1-866-PILL4US or pill4us@nwlc.org for help.

“Dealing with health insurance can get complicated sometimes, so we want to help women navigate that maze,” says Gretchen Borchelt, NWLC Senior Counsel. “We want to make sure women know about all the new benefits available to them thanks to the health care law and when these benefits go into effect.”

The health care law makes preventive care more accessible and affordable to millions of American women by requiring all new and un-grandfathered health insurance plans, at the start of their plan year, to cover certain women’s preventive health services withoutco-pays. These are:

•    Contraceptive methods and counseling;
•    Well-woman visits;
•    Counseling regarding sexually transmitted infections including HIV;
•    Screening for HIV;
•    DNA co-testing for HPV;
•    Breastfeeding support, supplies and counseling;
•    Screening and counseling for interpersonal and domestic violence; and
•    Screening for gestational diabetes.

Many student plans started at the beginning of the fall semester, while many employer-sponsored plans start their year on January 1. Grandfathered plans, certain religious employers, and self-funded student health plans are currently exempt from the preventive services provision.

For more information, visit: http://bit.ly/pill4us

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