This Just In
5 Ways Moms Will Be Affected by the Health Care Law
Last week I went to the White House to attend a town hall on the health care law. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius called it the most important women's health care law in 50 years and highlighted the positive ways it will affect coverage for women.
If it isn't overturned by the Supreme Court, the Affordable Care Act will mean significant changes in coverage not only for women but specifically for moms. With so much information out there about the ways health insurance will be different, here's what moms need to know about how the new law might have an impact on them:
More from The Stir: What You Need to Know About the New Health Care Law
1. Children cannot be denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition. This is a huge change and was spoken about repeatedly last week at the White House. It's now illegal to refuse to cover babies and all other children under 19 who have pre-existing health conditions, whether it's asthma or something more serious. Previously, insurance providers could deny coverage to children with health problems or drop them from their plan. Adults with pre-existing conditions will no longer be denied coverage either.
2. Contraception is covered without a copay. Meaning all birth control -- including the pill, IUDs, and even tube-tying procedures -- that you currently can only get by handing over a copay will be free. Free!
3. Breastfeeding supplies and services will be covered without a copay. New moms who are breastfeeding will have access to everything from lactation consultants to breast pump rentals without paying a cent. Insurance will take care of it.
4. Prenatal care screenings for conditions like gestational diabetes, hepatitis B, and anemia, as well as other preventive services, will be covered with no copay. Pregnant women who currently have to help foot the bill for various tests will now be screened at no cost to them.
5. Maternity and newborn care will become mandatory. Beginning in 2014, all health insurance plans must include pregnancy and newborn care. That means all prenatal visits and delivery options will be covered by insurance and available to expectant moms so they don't have to pick and choose which ones they can afford and which ones they'll have to skip.
What changes in health care are you happiest about?
Image via loomingy1/Flickr
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EmmaFromÉire
SaphronScribble
Awesome!! Go Obama!!
Cynthia Parten
Sure all thos "free" services sound great and I would love to have them. But no one seems to be thinking about how the insurance companies are going to make up for the money they will be losing by not getting copays. Insurance premiums are going to go through the roof! They already have for a lot of people. Insurance costs are already high enough.
Erin.Nelms
Mandago
buffalove23
Foleygirl24
I agree with cynthia. from what i've read of the new laws (and granted i could be wrong) it seems like the only place insurance companies are going to be able to make up for their lost money is through the individual insurance plans, which was what my family has. we already pay over $1000 per month for insurance because we do not have access to it through an employer, and our cost is projected to go up anywhere between 28%-35% because of the new healthcare law. my family can't afford that. our insurance has already gone up 4 times since the healthcare law went into effect, and it had been going down each year before that.
billsfan1104
But nothing is ever free. All that "free" stuff other people will have to pay for it.
work4mickey
The only people who love this are those who buy the fantasy that someone else will bear the costs.
If your bc would cost $100 a month, but having it covered (along with prenatal, delivery, lactaion, and other stuff you aren't going to use because you're on bc) raises you're premium by $125 a month, who is comming out ahead?
So much money is going to be wasted beauracratic overhead and checking for compliance. Costs will go up far more than the value of the benifits.
Cynthia Parten
Erin, it's interesting that pointing out higher costs for insurance means I don't care about anyone else. By the way, I am not a Republican. But being concerned about the high cost of health care doesn't make me selfish. The other ladies who have commented have made my point. If the cost of insurance skyrockets, how is that going to help the number of uninsured Americans? My family struggles with healthcare costs already. And when I do the numbers in our budget, the higher premiums definitely do not make up for not having to pay a copay.