Women Benefits under the Affordable Care Act - Essay Example

Women who had insurance that did not offer adequate financial and coverage security are also considered in this rule. Women in the middle class who had considerably better security and others, who had proper insurance, now have better security cover under the new Act (Selker and Wasser 123). The Affordable Care Act has increased the number of women who own health insurance covers in the country. Similarly, the nation as a whole is now spending its hard-earned income wisely and is assured of high standards of health care.

The act invests in wellness and protection and offers families and individuals more control over their health care. The ACA offers women a number of benefits that are crucial to their access to health care. One of the benefits is the provision of coverage of prevention services. Under the Act, this rule is guaranteed with no cost-sharing. Preventive care is important because it saves money and promotes health. Before the Act, these services were difficult to access because of the high deductibles, co-pays, and co-insurances. It was estimated that 50% of women delayed seeking medical care and had to give up necessities in order to access health care. Health insurance companies are required to offer covers for prevention services under the new law. An estimated forty-five percent of women have taken advantage of these provisions (Selker and Wasser 153).

Under the act, insurance plans are required to include maternity care. It is common for individual health insurance to overlook maternity care cover. Research shows that only twelve percent of the coverages offered cover maternity care. Additionally, maternity care covers provided are inadequate because of the deductibles and the waiting period associated with them. Under the new law, approximately eight and a half million women will be guaranteed cover. Another tenet of the women's benefits under the Affordable Care Act is more control over individual health care. The ACA assures women that they will no longer require referrals to visit their obstetrician-gynecologists. Additionally, women are guaranteed the freedom to choose their primary health physicians and the children’s pediatricians. The ACA requires insurance companies to offer cover for children under the age of nineteen with pre-existing health conditions. Individuals can also continue to be covered under their parent’s insurance plans until they are twenty-six (Selker and Wasser 253).

The women's benefits provided under the Affordable Care Act have a number of strengths and weaknesses. Similar to other provisions in the ACA, women's benefits share the power of guaranteeing the provision of affordable and adequate insurance cover to millions of women in the country. The health insurance covers proposed under the law benefit not only women but also their children. Another notable strength of the Act is that it prohibits any insurance company from denying any woman or her child insurance cover based on the fact that they have a pre-existing medical condition. Additionally, insurance companies are prohibited from setting limits on annual and lifetime coverage of women and their children. It is the first time in the United States that Medicaid for adult women without children has been expanded to one hundred and thirty-eight percent. The act also aims at eliminating the gap in health care coverage among the different classes of women in the country by the year 2020.

Despite the various strengths of the women's benefits provision, there are a number of notable weaknesses. One of them is that the act cuts the reimbursements to doctors; therefore, women are at risk of being turned away by their gynecologists. The law makes it difficult for these health care providers to offer their services at a low price and still stay in business. The most significant of the ACA is the perceived adverse impacts on other players in the health care industry. The expected outcomes have resulted in a lot of people challenging the law.

Since the law was adopted, it has had a number of effects on health care and healthcare provision. One positive effect is that women are now assured of insurance coverage despite any pre-existing conditions. The provision has had a positive impact on many women and their children who previously did not have insurance coverage. Secondly, middle-class women can now receive government assistance in paying insurance premiums. In addition, millions of women can now access emergency health care because of the expansion of Medicaid (Selker and Wasser 203).

The Affordable Care Act has also resulted in women in all socioeconomic positions being able to access preventive coverage services. Twenty-two of these coverage provisions is available at very low costs. Women's benefits under the care act have also enabled young adults to obtain quality health care since they can remain in their parent’s insurance plans until they are twenty-six years old. The major drawbacks of the women's benefits provided under the ACA include increased taxes for the American citizen and the increased cost of offering private medical services. Also, insurance companies are faced with additional risks as they are required to change their rule on how to provide insurance cover in order to accommodate disadvantaged women in society. Read More