share your story

By Ashley Mayo, Strategic Engagement Fellow at the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative

Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, being a woman just got easier. Today, a new provision of the law requiring insurers to provide women’s preventive services without a copay takes effect. For a quick look at what this means, check out our new video, and share it with your friends!

Video: Being a woman just got easier!

Here’s a list of the important health services which are available without copay starting today!

Well-woman visits- All adult women will have access to an annual preventive care visit focused on their specific needs. During these visits, a woman receives all appropriate preventive and medical services, and discusses with her doctor how best to get the care she needs to stay healthy.

It’s almost too good to believe, but it’s true! And all the better because we fought hard for it — first through the Affordable Care Act’s passage, and then when the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops objected to free coverage of contraceptives through women’s employer-provided health insurance. We stared the religious right down and we won.

Ultimately, the department of Health and Human Services stood their ground (and we MADE SURE they did). And contraceptives, along with a lot of really important health screens, like for HPV, or sexually transmitted diseases, or treatment of injuries resulting from domestic violence, are all covered with no co-pay. The official HHS website has a comprehensive list.

You may be a mom, but you are most definitely a daughter. And if you aren’t yet caring for a parent or grandparent, there is a strong likelihood that you’ll be doing so at some time in the future. That’s why it’s important that all of us start paying attention to what supports are available for elders—and for families providing eldercare.

Women caring for elder family members are often juggling enormous responsibilities. When the stress builds up, we get sick. Family caregivers report higher levels of depression, anxiety, hypertension, and immune system dysfunction. We also put strain on our family budgets. Sometimes we pass on promotions, or we take leave without pay, or when there is no other way, we leave paid work behind. The cumulative loss in income over a life time, according to AARP, averages over $300,000.

When my son Matthew was sickened with E. coli O157:H7 in 2002, Phil stayed by his bed and helped me to cope with watching my young child suffer through a devastating illness called hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS).  I remember being scared because I knew that people were dying in that outbreak, and my little boy was so sick that he could not stand or even sit by himself.   Today, Matthew has graduated from high school and is ready to leave for college, but sadly, Phil did not live to celebrate with us.   Phil’s untimely death one year ago was a blow to both Matthew and me, as well as for many others.

By Katherine Gallagher Robbins, Senior Policy Analyst

I’m at that time in life when lots of my friends are having kids. I’m thrilled for my friends – their kids are awesome and adorable. But one thing they’re not is cheap. And if Republicans have their way, kids are about to get even more expensive.

Marissa Mayer, the new Yahoo CEO, unleashed a media firestorm when she announced that she was pregnant. Suddenly everyone had an opinion about her plan to take a few weeks of maternity leave and work throughout that time from home. It proved women could handle top jobs in Silicon Valley, some said. It damages future mothers by setting a precedent of a scant few weeks for recovery and new-baby bonding, others said. Many emphatically pointed out that, with a compensation package worth a reported $59 million, she could afford more help and control her time in a manner unlike almost any other mother on the planet.

When I read the coverage I simply shook my head, in equal parts amusement and admiration. I remember weeks of feeling like a zombie after the births of my two children, my body slowly recovering from what seemed like a collision with a bus at high speed, days passing without getting a shower. But I didn’t have a board or shareholders to reassure, so more power to her if she can transition to motherhood while increasing corporate profitability. It was enough for me to locate clean underwear.