Happy Affordable Care Act 2-Year Anniversary!

By Alison McQuade on

March 20, 2012

Today is the 2-year anniversary of the passage of the Affordable Care Act. With all the legislation flying around the states aimed at vaginally probing women, restricting their access to comprehensive health care and dictating what they can and cannot do to their bodies, I’m happy to celebrate a piece of legislation that has done so much to actually help women.

“Two years ago, we were proud to watch President Obama sign the Affordable Care Act into law, and proud of the role played by EMILY’s List women in making sure this was a bill that improves the lives of women and families,” said Stephanie Schriock, President of EMILY’s List. “The Affordable Care Act means that for the first time our mothers, grandmothers, daughters and sisters have access to the health care they need.”

Despite countless GOP assaults, EMILY’s List women have been relentless champions of ensuring that women’s rights and freedoms were protected. Here are some examples of their accomplishments:

Sen. Barbara Mikulski’s amendment to Health Care Reform brought historically broad preventative care for women.

Sen. Maria Cantwell authored provisions to bring about significant cost savings for Medicare recipients, who are disproportionately women.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar prioritized reducing fees on medical devices, improving breast cancer screenings and making it easier for small businesses to purchase health care with tax credits.

Rep. Tammy Baldwin authored the health care amendment that allowed children to stay on their parents’ plans until they are 26 years old.

Here are some other numbers that matter:

8.2 million previously uninsured women will gain access to health care coverage from expanded Medicaid eligibility

11 million women will be eligible for subsidies if they do not have affordable insurance through an employer

10 million young women retained insurance coverage with the extension of parental coverage

0 women will be denied coverage from having “pre-existing conditions” like pregnancies, past C-sections, breast or cervical cancer or treatment for domestic violence or abuse

And that’s not all. Maternity and newborn care are included as essential benefits in health plans, and services like annual mammograms, cancer screenings, prenatal screenings are now provided with no additional costs to women and girls. The Affordable Care Act also closed the Medicare Part D “donut hole,” the prescription drug coverage gap that requires seniors to pay for the entire cost of their prescriptions. In 2007, women made up 64% of the Medicare beneficiaries that were affected by the “donut hole.”

With all the good it has done for women, you can see why the anniversary of the Affordable Care Act is basically a holiday in our office. But our work isn’t done. The GOP has set their sights on repealing the Affordable Care Act after taking office. We need to send in reinforcements for our women in Congress to make sure all these advancements for women are not undone.

Happy Affordable Care Act 2-Year Anniversary!

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