Posts Tagged health care reform

By Syreeta McFadden • 10 years ago

Hobby Lobby and the war on poor women

Years ago, my doctor prescribed oral contraceptives after I was hospitalized from a ruptured ovarian cyst. I had insurance through my employer at the time and paid a modest monthly copay of $10. When we switched insurance plans during an enrollment period, my coverage lapsed and I had to pay out of pocket for the medication. The snafu was quickly resolved but it was important information, a quick glimpse of the kind of expense I’d incur if I didn’t have a job, or the kind of job that would allow me to contact someone without taking time off work or fearing retribution from my employer to resolve the matter. I worked really long hours then, probably about 80 and ...

Years ago, my doctor prescribed oral contraceptives after I was hospitalized from a ruptured ovarian cyst. I had insurance through my employer at the time and paid a modest monthly copay of $10. When we switched ...
By zerlina • 10 years ago

Video: How Obamacare is a win for women

Back when the media was in a frenzy over the Obamacare Web site “glitches,” I wrote a post about how they were missing the point. Access to affordable healthcare is life changing and once the Web site got fixed, which it did, people would sign up in droves. Nearly 9 million did.

Women no longer face codified gender discrimination under the old health insurance system. That is life changing. That’s why I was so frustrated back in November when the media was in hysterics over the web site rollout debacle. Did it take me a few tries to sign up for health care? Yes. But it took me longer to upgrade my iPhone and I had the patience ...

Back when the media was in a frenzy over the Obamacare Web site “glitches,” I wrote a post about how they were missing the point. Access to affordable healthcare is life changing and once ...
By Verónica Bayetti Flores • 11 years ago

Black Americans and single mothers disproportionately affected by states refusing to expand Medicaid

A New York Times analysis has found that the Affordable Care Act, the landmark health care reform legislation, will leave out two thirds of poor black folks and single mothers, and more than half of uninsured low-wage workers:

Because they live in states largely controlled by Republicans that have declined to participate in a vast expansion of Medicaid, the medical insurance program for the poor, they are among the eight million Americans who are impoverished, uninsured and ineligible for help. The federal government will pay for the expansion through 2016 and no less than 90 percent of costs in later years.

In short, because the very states that hold a disproportionate amount of low-income folks are also the majority of the ...

A New York Times analysis has found that the Affordable Care Act, the landmark health care reform legislation, will leave out two thirds of poor black folks and single mothers, and more than half of uninsured ...
By Mychal Denzel Smith • 11 years ago

What you need to know about the government shutdown

A small faction of the Republican party in the House of Representatives has finally done what they’ve always wanted: shut down the government. As of midnight, the federal government has been shut down because Congress failed to pass a bill that would continue funding it. Speaker of the House John Boehner refused to bring a funding bill to the floor for a vote without amendments aimed at dismantling or delaying Obamacare, the once pejorative now popular name for the Affordable Care Act that will make health insurance more accessible to the millions of Americans without it. Of course, the president would never sign that into law, as healthcare reform has been the signature domestic victory of his presidency. And because ...

A small faction of the Republican party in the House of Representatives has finally done what they’ve always wanted: shut down the government. As of midnight, the federal government has been shut down because Congress failed to ...
By Maya Dusenbery • 11 years ago

21 states will soon ban insurance coverage of abortion

Map via the ACLU. Click here to hover for more info on each state.

Bans on insurance coverage of abortion didn’t really became a thing until recently. The vast majority of private insurance plans covered abortion, as they would any common medical procedure, and no made any fuss about it. But then the debate over health care reform happened and ultimately opened up the possibility for states to ban all abortion coverage in the new health exchanges.

And, as expected, many states have seized on that opportunity, extending the bans to private insurance as well. At least 21 states have passed legislation to stop insurance companies from paying for abortion; in 8 states, ...

Map via the ACLU. Click here to hover for more info on each state.

Bans on insurance coverage of abortion didn’t really became a thing until recently. The vast majority ...

transgender symbol
By Jos Truitt • 12 years ago

Breaking: Health care law protects against gender identity discrimination

The Affordable Care Act, aka Health care reform, aka Obamacare, aka that thing the Supreme Court said was constitutional, includes a ban on sex discrimination in federally-funded health services. In another big win for the transgender community, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has clarified that this covers discrimination based on gender identity. This means that excluding someone from accessing health care because they are trans or gender non-conforming is discrimination. The HHS Office of Civil Rights will now hear and investigate complaints about gender identity discrimination, treating them as sex discrimination.

This comes on the heels of the EEOC saying they will hear complaints of gender identity discrimination in employment, making it part of a very exciting ...

The Affordable Care Act, aka Health care reform, aka Obamacare, aka that thing the Supreme Court said was constitutional, includes a ban on sex discrimination in federally-funded health services. In another big win for the transgender ...

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