HERvotes Blog Carnival: What Health-Care Reform Means to Women

By Cindy Pearson, co-founder of Raising Women’s Voices for the Health Care We Need

For the tenth #HERvotes blog carnival, we’re celebrating the second anniversary of the new health-reform law, the Affordable Care Act, or ACA.

Why are women so excited about the ACA? Well, for a start, the law has already started removing barriers to health care and improving services for millions of women and our families, helping us access the care we need to stay healthy.

This week’s #HERvotes blog carnival is going to raise women’s voices all across the country. We will tell our stories of how the Affordable Care Act has helped us, what is still wrong with our health care system and what we’re doing to make a difference. We will express our anger about the insurance company abuses–such as charging us more than men for our health insurance–that will continue until the ACA is fully implemented. And perhaps most importantly, we’ll share why this important advance for women should be upheld by the Supreme Court when it takes up the Affordable Care Act next week.

Please join us in lifting our voices–because we all have something to gain from the Affordable Care Act.

You can participate by telling your own story and by sharing the posts below on Facebook, Twitter (using the hashtag #HERvotes) and other social media.

#HERvotes, a multi-organization campaign launched in August 2011, advocates women using our voices and votes to stop the attacks on the women’s movement’s major advances, many of which are at risk in the next election.

Read more:
As ACA Faces a Supreme Court Challenge, Who Is at Stake?- Shivana Jorawar, NAPAWF
Stand Up For Health Care Tumblr- NARAL Pro-Choice America
10 Things to LOVE About the Affordable Care Act- Debra Ness, National Partnership for Women and Families
Celebrate Second Anniversary of Affordable Care Act- Family Values @ Work
The Affordable Care Act: Hope for Health Care Equality For All- Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health via RHRealityCheck
Health Insurance Access for Young Latina Adults - National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health
Health Reform to Expand Reach of Community Health Centers- National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health
No Co-pay for Pregnancy Care is Good for Latina Moms and Babies - National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health
Medicaid to Service 6 Million More - National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health
Prevention Saves Latinas' Lives - National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health
Insurance protections for Latinas' with Pre-Existing Conditions - National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health
Cervical Cancer Prevention for Latinas - National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health
No Co-Pays for STI/HIV Testing - National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health
Showing love for women, mothers and Babies - National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health
The Affordable Care Act Turns 2 – No Baby Step for Women- Gloria Lau, YWCA USA
Why It's Time for Women's Rights- Sophia Yen and Ellen Shaffer, Trust Women/Silver Ribbon Campaign
20 Million Women and Counting ...Two Years of the Affordable Care Act- Jacqueline M., Planned Parenthood Action Fund
Thank you, ACA: Protecting Our Country’s Well-being by Protecting Students- Andrea Alajbegovic, National Women's Law Center
New Options for Those with Chronic Illness- Dania Palanker, National Women's Law Center
Affordable Care Act: A Necessity for Women's Health- Katharine Nasielski, Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism
How the ACA is Helping My Family- Sarah Robinson, National Women's Law Center
The Limbo of a College Graduate- Brittany Papalia, National Women's Law Center
Preventative Care: Protect the Affordable Care Act- Mallen Urso, National Women's Political Caucus
Why I Support the Health Care Law- Amy Cotton, National Council of Jewish Women
Where Would Women be Today without the Landmark Programs that were Enacted Over the Last 45 Years to Protect and Advance Women’s Health?- Raising Women's Voices
The Impact of the Affordable Care Act on One Young Woman- Lindsay Yancich, NOW
Why We Need the Affordable Care Act- Julie Seger, AAUW
Healthcare Stories the Supreme Court Needs to Read- Nancy Keenan, NARAL Pro-Choice America
Today's Story on How Health Reform Helps Women- NARAL's Blog for Choice
HERvotes Blog Carnival: Gen Y Women Benefit from the Affordable Health Care Act- Business and Professional Women's Foundation
Celebrating the 2nd Anniversary of the Affordable Care Act!- Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, MomsRising
2 Year Anniversary of the Affordable Care Act-What’s In It for Young People?- Sarah Audelo, Advocates for Youth
The Affordable Care Act and Women’s Health- National Association of Social Workers
Health Reform: Winning for Women- Tara Mancini, WIN's Women’s Health Policy Network
Two Years Later, Reflections on the Landmark Health Care Law, Miri Cypers, Jewish Women International
Real Stories on Why Health-Care Reform Helps Women,Thomas Dollar, NARAL Pro-Choice America *updated daily*

Photo of Barack Obama signing the Affordable Care Act on March 23, 2010, from Wikimedia Commons.

Two Years Later, Reflections on the Landmark Health Care Law

by Miri Cypers, JWI Senior Policy and Advocacy Specialist

Two years ago this week, Congress voted in support of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the landmark health care reform bill, and sent the legislation to President Obama’s desk to sign. This came after months of heated debate in Washington DC and throughout the nation which showcased the complex and often vitriolic nature of the political landscape in the United States. Ultimately, the passage of this historic bill affirmed the right of every American to quality, affordable health coverage and served as an especially important victory for women and their families.
So what gains has the Affordable Care Act made since its passage two years ago? Now, over 20 million women across the U.S. have received preventive health care services, from mammograms to colonoscopies, without co-pays. Soon, this coverage will include other critical preventive health care services, like well-women visits, contraception, and domestic violence screenings- all available without additional costs to women. Now, 2.5 million young adults are insured because of the health care law which allows them to stay on their parents’ insurance plan until the age of 26. Now, nearly 500,000 Americans who were denied coverage have insurance. The list goes on and on.
Women are already benefitting from the ACA and these positive trends will only continue. As women and as activists, we must continue to protect this historic law by dispelling myths and staying informed and active advocates. The health care law is a tremendous achievement for women and their families and despite strong opposition, we will not turn back now.

Cross-posted with Jewish Women International

Part of the #HERvotes blog carnival.