Healthcare policy disparities in women - Essay Example

This paper describes the policy’s aspects of women’s health services that addresses healthcare disparity in women, effectiveness of the policy, its disadvantages, and strategies for overcoming the disadvantages. The Obama Care: Women’s Health Services The Obama Care is a health care policy that was passed through the Congress and aimed at transforming health care delivery among Americans. Core objectives of the policy include improved quality of available care to patients, affordability of care, and reduced rates of health insurance covers.

The policy further narrows down to care for women’s needs and its provisions eliminate barrier to women’s care that has existed because of economic barriers to care access. With the high care cost and provisions of former policies that did not regard plight of poor women in accessing health care, specialized care services was limited to women from high economic classes who could afford direct payment for the services or medical cover for the services. The new policy however ensures affordability of healthcare and this means that all women can pay quality care services to attain high level of quality of life (Human Resources and Services Administration n.d.).

The policy’s outlined specialized services for women plays the major role in addressing health care disparity that previously existed. According to the policy, health plans must cover preventive services and patients are not responsible for the cover cost because the policy eliminates copayment. The policy then outlines a number of preventive services that it avails to women and the significance of these measures promises a solution to the disparity problem that has existed. The “well-woman visits” service allows adult women to seek services and obtain recommendations for suitable preventive measures (Human Resources and Services Administration n.d., p. 1). It also offers screening services such as “gestational diabetes screening,” and screening for violence (Human Resources and Services Administration n.d., p. 1). The policy’s preventive services also provides for contraceptive strategies and contraceptive awareness services to women and need for Food and Drug Administration’s approval over the strategies and services guarantees quality.

“Mammograms and Colonoscopies,” HIV testing and counseling for women who are sexually active, counseling on STDs, and HPV DNA examinations for women above 30 years, are other preventive services that the policy ensures for women. These services are essential for women’s health and contrary to the previous status in which personal economic potential ensured the services, the new policy has eliminated the barrier and therefore places women on a level ground towards quality of health (Human Resources and Services Administration n.d.).

Effectiveness of the policy and rationale The policy has partially met its objectives of ensuring accessible and affordable care. The partial achievement of the objective is because the policy was designed to be rolled in phases and some of the provisions have not been effective. It has however been effective in offering preventive services to women through changing the medical cover and provision of care approaches. The policy has transformed the healthcare sector into focus on public health and this establishes preventive measur