Why Women Should Support Health Care Reform

Women should support the new health care reform for several reasons: 1) women usually make most of the decisions regarding family health care, 2) women usually live longer than men, 3) women usually require more medical care than men, 4) women have additional medical needs such as pregnancy, childbirth and childcare.

According to a report by the Commonwealth Fund, approximately 64 million women or 70%of Americans have no health insurance coverage, inadequate health care coverage, high medical bills or debt problems, or problems accessing health care because of the rising cost.

Many women have difficulty getting adequate health insurance because you usually need a full-time job which 52% of women versus 73% of men are likely to have. Many women continue to work full-time to continue receiving health care coverage but would prefer to work part-time or stay at home.

According to the Group Health Research Institute in Seattle victims of domestic violence have even higher health costs than other women for three years after the abuse ends totaling $1600 or more after the abuse ends.

According to a 2008 study by the National Law Center, prior to the health care reform, it was legal in most states for companies selling individual health policies to participate in gender rating by charging women more than men for the same coverage, even for policies that did not include maternity care. The health care premium differences ranged from 4% to 48%.

Health care reform will really help women because they can no longer be discriminated against and charged higher insurance premiums than men simply because they are a woman or for a pre-existing condition such as pregnancy, caesarian sections or other issues such as domestic violence and rape. Since women generally make only $.77 for every dollar men make, any reduction in health care costs is appreciated.

According to the National Women's Law Center whether women are insured or uninsured, they have many out-of-pocket costs that they are more likely to avoid health care or struggle paying for health care.

How the Healthcare Overhaul Affects You

Health insurance costs increase at a rate higher than inflation every year without a justifiable reason for the increase in costs. Subscribers do not get more coverage, better service, advise or quicker appointments. The Health care law that was signed on March 23, 2010 by President Obama will provide health insurance coverage to approximately 32 million Americans and guarantees that 95 percent of Americans will be covered.

In 2014, those Americans who don't get health insurance will have to pay $95 or 1 percent of their income, whichever is greater provided the amount does not exceed the cost of the health plan.

In 2016, those Americans who don't get health insurance will have to pay $695 per uninsured adult and can increase up to $2,085 per household or 2.5 percent of their income, whichever is greater. An adult would be penalized if they went more than three months of the year without health insurance. If your income is below a certain amount, or if the cheapest health insurance would cost 8 percent of the person's income, they would not be charged a penalty for lack of coverage.

Health insurance will be more affordable for the middle class and small business owners. The health care law would provide the largest cuts for the middle class which will reduce health care premiums and out-of-pocket costs. The law will also improve Medicare benefits by providing lower prescription drug costs.

Americans will also have the option to shop for the same type of private health insurance that members of Congress have which will reduce costs.

Health insurance companies will now be accountable by being required to keep premiums down and prevent healthcare coverage denials including pre-existing conditions. Health insurance companies will be required to offer coverage regardless of your health condition and cannot increases rates or cancel your coverage when you get sick.

There will be limits on how much is paid to receive health care coverage. Based on your income millions of Americans will get a tax credit to help pay for coverage.

If you like your current coverage you can keep it. If you have existing individual coverage on your own, your premiums would decrease by 14 to 20 percent and you may qualify for tax credits and will be provided better coverage.

If you get your health insurance coverage through your employer you will also see a decrease in premiums due to a reduction in administration costs and competition between insurance companies by up to 3 percent.

Insurance forms and health plan guidelines will now be written in plain english and forms will be standardized. Insurance companies that raise rates with no valid cause will not be able to sell their insurance poicies in the new insurance market.