The Affordable Care Act (ACA), aka “Obamacare”, provides many important rights for women’s health. In fact there are 26 preventative care benefits for women under the ACA that are free!  Healthcare.gov lists

Services for pregnant women or women who may become pregnant

1. Anemia screening on a routine basis
2. Breastfeeding comprehensive support and counseling from trained providers, and access to breastfeeding supplies, for pregnant and nursing women
3. Contraception: Food and Drug Administration-approved contraceptive methods, sterilization procedures, and patient education and counseling, as prescribed by a health care provider for women with reproductive capacity (not including abortifacient drugs). This does not apply to health plans sponsored by certain exempt “religious employers.” Learn more about contraceptive coverage.
4. Folic acid supplements for women who may become pregnant
5. Gestational diabetes screening for women 24 to 28 weeks pregnant and those at high risk of developing gestational diabetes
6. Gonorrhea screening for all women at higher risk
7. Hepatitis B screening for pregnant women at their first prenatal visit
8. Rh Incompatibility screening for all pregnant women and follow-up testing for women at higher risk
9. Syphilis screening
10. Expanded tobacco intervention and counseling for pregnant tobacco users
11. Urinary tract or other infection screening

Get more information about services for pregnant women from HealthFinder.gov

Other covered preventive services for women

1. Breast cancer genetic test counseling (BRCA) for women at higher risk
2. Breast cancer mammography screenings every 1 to 2 years for women over 40
3. Breast cancer chemoprevention counseling for women at higher risk
4. Cervical cancer screening for sexually active women
5. Chlamydia infection screening for younger women and other women at higher risk
6. Domestic and interpersonal violence screening and counseling for all women
7. Gonorrhea screening for all women at higher risk
8. HIV screening and counseling for sexually active women
9. Human Papillomavirus (HPV) DNA test every 3 years for women with normal cytology results who are 30 or older
10. Osteoporosis screening for women over age 60 depending on risk factors
11. Rh incompatibility screening follow-up testing for women at higher risk
12. Sexually transmitted infections counseling for sexually active women
13. Syphilis screening for women at increased risk
14. Tobacco use screening and interventions
15. Well-woman visits to get recommended services for women under 65^[1]https://www.healthcare.gov/preventive-care-women/

In addition to the 26 women’s health care services mentioned above, the ACA requires employers to provide space for lactating mothers to pump breastmilk at work.  Some employers struggled with this requirement; however, it has been successful at increasing breastfeeding rates in the United States.  The Washington Post explains exactly what the ACA guarantees:

The fine print within the ACA that points to infrastructure is critical: This guarantees a private space for pumping (not a germ-infested bathroom, for example), complete with a lock and access to a sink and a refrigerator. A space like this not only keeps a baby’s food safe but also helps women decide that breast-feeding can be continued. This was originally part of the Fair Labor Standards Act and was moved over as an amendment to ACA. ^[2]https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/parenting/wp/2017/01/24/what-does-the-aca-have-to-do-with-breastfeeding-a-lot-but-more-is-needed-not-less/?utm_term=.2a557cf0196a

The most controversial aspect of free women’s health care under the ACA is contraception.  Time explains how much money families and individuals have saved:

Roughly 55 million women now receive contraceptives with no out-of-pocket costs, according to the National Women’s Law Center. And birth control costs can be significant: A 2015 study found that “the ACA is saving the average pill user $255 per year, and the average woman receiving an IUD is saving $248.”

Indeed, as MONEY has reported in the past, new birth control coverage is a key factordriving down average out-of-pocket spending on prescription drugs. According to a report from the Kaiser Family Foundation, “oral contraceptive pills account for 63% of the drop in average out-of-pocket spending on retail drugs since 2012.”^[3]http://time.com/money/4634382/obamacare-repeal-what-happens-birth-control/

President Trump’s cabinet head of the Health and Human Services Department Tom Price is agains the ACA and in particular the birth control mandate. He stated in 2012 that not a single woman didn’t have access to health care. ^[4]https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/11/tom-price-not-one-woman-cant-afford-birth-control/509003/ 

 

Recall religious concerns were at the heart of the successful Hobby Lobby Supreme Court case on the ACA birth control mandate.^[5]http://time.com/2941323/supreme-court-contraception-ruling-hobby-lobby/

What will happen to the 26 women’s health care rights under the ACA should it be repealed? With no Republican plan in place, we don’t know.  

Archimedesscrown / Pixabay