About the Reform Matters Project

Making Real Progress for Women and Health Care

Women are major stakeholders in health care in this country. We play a significant role in the care that our children, partners, or parents receive, not to mention our own health. The health care reform legislation that passed represents vitally important advances for women's health. However, together we'll have to fight to fix the dangerous abortion restrictions that anti-choice Members of Congress pushed through in this legislation.

NWLC's Reform Matters: Making Real Progress for Women and Health Care project was instrumental in ensuring that advocates of women's health were vocal and active in the fight for health care reform. Now that health care reform is the law of the land, our project is working to provide advocates the tools to implement health care reform and continue to work to improve women's health.

NWLC's efforts include:

• Reform Matters Conference Call Series: NWLC convenes a monthly conversation to provide an on-going forum for women's advocates to discuss health care reform at the state and federal levels, share experiences and questions that have come up in addressing various health care reform proposals, and connect with national health policy experts.

• Technical and Informational Assistance: As states contemplate health care reform proposals, NWLC will provide technical assistance as requested, including written analysis of policy proposals, research and answers to specific questions, written testimony, presentations on the proposals, and meetings to discuss the proposals. To further discuss opportunities for technical assistance and collaboration, e-mail us at reformmatters@nwlc.org.

• National Women and Health Care Coalition: NWLC hosts a broad coalition of national organizations including - reproductive rights advocates, women's advocates, women's health advocates, labor unions and health advocates, to respond to various federal, health-related issues as they impact women. The coalition gives members the opportunity to share educational materials, strategic analyses, and the latest developments both nationally and in the states.

• Reform Matters Toolkit: What Advocates Need to Know: The Reform Matters Toolkit helps women's policy advocates be full participants in the health care reform movement. Building from our Women and Health Coverage Issue Briefs and our Women and Medicaid Toolkit, this resource outlines the basics of health care reform and explores several health reform issues and their impact on women's access to comprehensive, affordable, high-quality care.

• Health Care for America Now: NWLC has joined an unprecedented national effort on health reform - and we hope you'll join, too. Health Care for America Now is working toward a bold new solution that gives women, and all people, real choice and a guarantee of quality coverage they can afford: keeping their current private insurance plan, picking a new private insurance plan, or joining a public health insurance plan.