How Health Care Reform Benefits Women

 AARP on What Health Reform Means for Women

As Washington debates reforming our country's medical system, the health of millions of American women is at stake. At AARP, we've heard from countless women who have been denied access to affordable coverage because of their gender. Others have shared stories of being overwhelmed with the burden of making health care decisions for themselves, their parents, and their children.

Health reform presents an unprecedented opportunity to break down the barriers that are preventing women across the nation from getting the care they need for themselves and their families. Current proposals in Congress will promote the health of American women in several ways.

End Insurance Practices That Discriminate on Gender
In many states, insurers are allowed to consider gender when setting premium rates in individual markets. This means women are often charged more than men for the same coverage.

Insurers can also exclude or deny coverage for certain pre-existing conditions. For example, if a woman has had a Cesarean section, an insurer may refuse to pay for future C-sections or reject the woman's application for health insurance coverage altogether. This kind of discrimination is pricing millions of women out of the coverage they need.

As a result, in 2007, more than half (52 percent) of women reported problems getting necessary health care because of cost, and 45 percent had significant medical debt or reported problems with medical bills.

With heath reform, the days of discrimination based on gender and pre-existing health conditions will end. Insurance companies will no longer be allowed to charge higher rates based on gender, nor will they be able to deny coverage based on pre-existing conditions.

Expand Access to Providers Specializing in Women’s Health
Women's health needs can be different than men's, and health reform efforts will develop a new way to address these differences in a meaningful way. Because women tend to live longer than men, they also tend to have more chronic conditions, such as arthritis, hypertension, and osteoporosis—all of which require ongoing monitoring and treatment.

Health care reform will provide better access to doctors and nurse practitioners who provide primary care and women's health services. This step will help improve care for women with chronic health conditions.

Improve Access to Important Preventive Services
Compared to men, women visit health providers more often and use more preventive care services. Unfortunately, vital preventive health screenings for women, such as mammograms and Pap smears, are not always adequately covered in the current health care system.

Based on current legislative proposals, health reform will ensure that insurance companies and Medicare cover mammograms, pap smears, and tests for other types of cancers, in addition to screenings for diabetes and osteoporosis.

Provide Help for Long-Term Support and Services
Women face major challenges in being able to live with independence and dignity as they age. On average, women live longer, have higher rates of disability and chronic health problems, and have lower incomes than men. As a result, many women need long-term-care services without having the resources to pay for them.

Current health care reform proposals will help women—both as recipients of care and as caregivers. Women are also the primary providers of long-term care, as most paid and family caregivers are women. By expanding access to services to help women and their loved ones live at home, health reform will provide women a measure of choice of and control over their long-term-care options. These long-term-care provisions will give women a more secure future by helping pay for services and supports they may need if they become disabled, including services and support to help them live independently in their homes and communities.

Advance Professional Opportunities for Female Health Care Workers
In nursing, a profession dominated by women, tens of thousands of qualified students are turned away each year from America's nursing schools because of a lack of resources.

Under health care reform, nursing schools would be able to graduate more nurses, and nursing professionals would be able to more easily pursue advancement by earning graduate degrees. These measures would increase the number of qualified nursing professionals to provide essential health services.

Provide Greater Access to Affordable Health Coverage for Women
Currently, almost half of America's women cannot get affordable health insurance, partly because women tend to work for small businesses and/or work part-time.

Current health care reform proposals would create new Health Insurance Exchanges for the millions of Americans who cannot get health insurance through their employers. The exchanges will give women the security of health care coverage even if they lose their job, switch employers, or get sick.