Results tagged “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” from Blog for Choice

The anti-choice leaders of the U.S. House of Representatives just can't help themselves.

They're like Captain Ahab and Wile E. Coyote combined with their mad obsession with destroying the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare.

And even though the Supreme Court upheld Obamacare, the House will vote again tomorrow to repeal this landmark piece of legislation--the 31st attempt by the anti-choice House leadership to invalidate the law.

And just what are they voting to repeal?

• Improving women's access to maternity care
• Covering birth control without a copay
• Allowing young adults to stay on their parents' insurance plans until age 26.
• Refusing to let insurance companies discriminate against women.

What planet are these people living on?

Instead of taking action to create jobs and grow our economy, anti-choice members of the House are voting to attack our health care--again.

Call your representative at 202-224-3121, and tell him or her that enough is enough: vote NO on this latest attack on health care.

Good news: this morning, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare!

The law will bring 30 million Americans into a health-care system that includes affordable family-planning services, better access to contraception, and maternity care.

It's a HUGE victory for American women!

A group of my NARAL Pro-Choice America colleagues was out on the Supreme Court steps this morning speaking out for Obamacare.

Unfortunately, anti-choice politicians in Congress are still trying to repeal the health-care law. In fact, less than an hour after the Supreme Court issued its ruling, anti-choice U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell went to the floor of the Senate to call for a repeal of the law.

That's why we must tell Congress that enough is enough: no more attacks on our health care.

Today wraps up National Women's Health Week.

This week, NARAL Pro-Choice America PAC endorsed President Obama's re-election campaign. The president is the only candidate in this race who will stand up for women's health, and we're going to give 110 percent to make sure he's re-elected.

Here at Blog for Choice, we've been sharing stories about how Obamacare helps women get quality, affordable health care.

The Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare, allows many small-business owners and self-employed Americans to get affordable health care for the first time. That's great news for Sarah in Minnesota:

I am a professional working woman who recently left a well-paying job to start my own consultancy and independent projects. As I build my contacts and résumé, I'm not making very much money. Thanks to a state-sponsored family-planning program, I'm able to access very low-cost birth control. This ability to prevent pregnancy while I build my financial stability for myself and my partner is an important part of my goals for a healthy, inspired work life. People might not connect these two things (birth control and financial security), but they are absolutely interdependent.

Millions of Americans' access to health care depends on keeping President Obama in the White House. It's as simple as that.

Paid for by NARAL Pro-Choice America, www.ProChoiceAmerica.org, and not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

It's National Women's Health Week, and here at Blog for Choice, we're sharing stories about how Obamacare helps women--and men--get quality, affordable health care.

The Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare, prohibits insurance companies from discriminating against people with pre-existing conditions. That's great news for Ted in Wisconsin and his kids:

After losing our employer-sponsored health insurance, our family of five was uninsured for months. We had so many pre-existing conditions, such as our kids' asthma, every private insurance company denied our application for coverage. I'm happy that insurance companies can no longer deny coverage my asthmatic children. It's terrifying to witness your children struggling to breathe, knowing there's no way to afford the preventative medication they desperately need. To overturn the health-care law would return our family to the days of this terrifying desperation. To deny even children the basic right of accessible and affordable health care would be a moral outrage.

Thanks to Obamacare, Ted and his children can breathe a little easier. Literally.

It's National Women's Health Week, and here at Blog for Choice, we're sharing stories about how Obamacare helps women get quality, affordable health care.

Obamacare's full name is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Here's how the law makes health care affordable for Donna in Pennsylvania:

Without the Affordable Care Act my daughter, born with cerebral palsy, would not have health-care coverage after she finishes college. My family earns too much to be eligible for aid from the government or any charitable foundations (which means we earn over the poverty line). The Affordable Care Act will allow my daughter to be covered for an additional three years while she finds work and helps us pay down her tuition bills.

Obamacare means that, for millions of Americans, health care will be affordable for the very first time.

This week is National Women's Health Week, an opportunity to recognize the need for women to have control over their own health care and family-planning decisions.

And now, thanks to the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a Obamacare, we have a lot to celebrate when it comes to women's health.

Just how does Obamacare benefit women? Each day this week, we'll share a story here at Blog for Choice about how the law helps real women get quality, affordable health care.

Today, we're focusing on the no-cost birth control policy, which will give women near-universal contraceptive coverage. Let's hear from Amanda in Ohio:

At the age of 23 I was a working professional, but still unable to afford the cost of insurance. (At that time, young people stopped being covered by their parents' insurance soon after their college graduation.) Although I was working full-time as an intern to further my career, my employer did not cover my insurance, nor could I afford to pay it. Hence, I was not on birth control for two years before I decided to return to grad school. The institution I attended mandated that students without health care purchase insurance through the school, which I did. However, the full cost of birth control was not covered and I could not afford the monthly co-pay. At this point, I had been off birth control for at least three years.

During the spring of my first year of grad school, I experienced a ruptured ovarian cyst. The pain associated with this was excruciating, beyond anything I have experienced before in my life. It actually felt like an organ had burst inside of me. I could barely walk, or even think, I was in so much pain. A friend rushed me to the emergency room, where I underwent eight hours of testing (x-rays, ultrasounds, etc.) before they could figure out what had happened since the amount of fluid and tissue from the ruptured cyst was so great. After the painful ordeal and recovery, I had to visit an ob-gyn where I learned that being on birth control actually prevented the formation of cysts. I subsequently went on birth control, though it meant I had to borrow money to pay for the copay.

Although I followed protocol and contacted my insurance prior to going to the emergency room, they still would not pay because I did not go to the university health center, which is not equipped for emergency situations. If it took a hospital eight hours to diagnose and treat me, I wonder how a health center without emergency treatment capabilities would have fared?

The insurance company still refuses to cover the service and the $5,000 has been in dispute for years, while negatively impacting my credit and ability to apply for loans.

Basically, because I could not afford insurance or birth control copay as a young woman in my early and mid twenties, (that would have prevented cysts from developing), I now face thousands of dollars of debt, bad credit, and a diminished quality of life as a result.

The new policy will prevent this situation from happening to other young women who dream of having both a professional career and a healthy body. I don't think that is too much to ask...

Fortunately for women like Amanda, Obamacare means that insurance plans will cover the medicine they need without a copay.

Unfortunately, anti-choice politicians like Mitt Romney are fighting tooth and nail to make it harder for women like Amanda to get the health care they need. They're pushing for the Supreme Court to overturn the health-care law, and if that doesn't work, they'll try to repeal it in Congress.

That would have devastating consequences for women like Amanda.

Check back here at Blog for Choice every day this week to read more personal stories!

Two years ago today, President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law.

Every day this week, Blog for Choice is sharing a story from someone who has benefited from this landmark health-reform law.

Today's story comes from Alison in Washington:

Thanks to the new health care law, I was able to stay on my parents' health insurance plan after college. If the law is repealed and I am no longer able to be on their health insurance, I don't know if I will be able to cover all of the costs for my health care.

The health-reform law is a big deal for women like Alison. They're the ones who would lose if it were overturned.

Every day this week, Blog for Choice is sharing a story from someone who has benefited from the Affordable Care Act, the landmark health-reform law that President Obama signed two years ago.

Today we hear from Maggie in Georgia, who writes about her daughter:

My daughter has to take birth-control pills for severe polycystic ovary syndrome. Last year, she had to have surgery to remove two huge cysts from one of her ovaries and almost lost the ovary. If her insurance were not paying for the pills, she and her husband could not afford them.

It's women like Maggie's daughter who would lose if the health-reform law is overturned.

Friday marks the two-year anniversary of President Obama signing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law.

This landmark piece of legislation brings 30 million Americans into a health-care system that includes affordable family-planning services, better access to contraception, and maternity care. It represents one of the greatest advances for women's health in a generation.

Every day this week, Blog for Choice will share a story from someone who has benefited from the health-reform law.

Today, we hear from Karen in Michigan:

So far, the health-care program has paid for my mammogram, a Pap smear, and three immunizations. I could get by without them for a year, or I could pay my own way with my $150/week salary. More importantly, at age 59-plus, I would soon be priced out of the insurance market. I could potentially have a heart attack or stroke and die because I couldn't afford to pay for care. I don't want to be bankrupt, and I don't want to be a burden to my family. Yet, I am the only one in my immediate family who works, but insurance isn't offered and I don't qualify for Medicaid.

Next week, the Supreme Court will begin to hear three days of arguments from opponents who want to overturn the Affordable Care Act.

If these efforts are successful, the results would be devastating for women like Karen.