In the Spotlight

By Lisa Zamosky

Included in a new report released by the White House on the state of women in America’s economy is the impact the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) has already had and will continue to have on the availability of quality health care for women.

However, not everyone sees the successes the White House is touting.

According to Michael Cannon, director of health policy studies at the Washington, DC-based libertarian think tank, Cato Institute, the law is not a cure for what ails American women dissatisfied with today’s health care market.

In fact, Cannon reminds us that Obamacare is generally unpopular with the American public, including women, and takes issue with supporters’ tendency to pluck out popular pieces of the law and mistake them for signs of the law’s overall success.

“It’s completely meaningless to say this law will provide preventive care for people and the public likes that, and that this law will prevent insurers from denying care to people with pre-existing conditions and the public likes that, ergo Obamacare is good. No, that’s not it at all,” he says.

In fact, according to Cannon, Obamacare may actually be bad for women.  “When employers are required by the government to spend more money on health benefits, it’s going to increase the cost of hiring and it’s going to leave fewer women with jobs. In particular, low-skill, low-income women,” he says.

Even popular insurance reforms, such as making it illegal to charge women more for a health plan than men simply on the basis of their gender, are ultimately going to drive costs higher and stifle cost-saving innovations, Cannon says.

That’s because women generally use more medical services than men. Allowing women to pay less for coverage although they use more, is merely an act of cost-shifting.

“You’re not actually improving the situation by shifting costs to men or by hiding from women the cost of their own medical care,” Cannon says. By reducing their costs, he contends, women will be encouraged to purchase more health insurance and be less cost conscious about the care they receive.

Still, he acknowledges that the current system needs to change to better provide health care to all Americans, including women.  But Obamacare isn’t the answer.

“The government needs to start pulling back and doing less,” Cannon says.

By Nancy-Ann DeParle, Assistant to the President and White House Deputy Chief of Staff

Today, the White House released a new report on the state of women in America’s economy. We know that women are a driving force behind the success of the American economy, but women and their families can’t be successful if they don’t have high-quality health care.

As a mom, I know that women are often the ones making the health care decisions for their families. That’s why ensuring women and their families have high-quality health care they can afford is a top priority for President Obama. And it’s why he worked so hard to pass and implement the Affordable Care Act – the new health care law.

If you’re one of the millions women across the country with health insurance, your insurance is getting better. Thanks to the new law, most insurers must cover recommended preventive services at no extra cost, including cancer screenings and, starting in August, contraceptives. Additionally, preventive services are free for everyone on Medicare. That means 45 million women can get preventive services without paying an extra penny out of their own pockets. Insurance companies can’t put a lifetime cap on your insurance. And thanks to health reform, insurance companies must spend at least 80 percent of your premium dollars on health care and not overhead and cannot raise your premiums by 10 percent or more with no accountability.

If you’re on Medicare, you can get preventive services like mammograms for free and discounts on prescription drugs if you hit the donut hole.

And if you have children, the law could be helping your kids. Today, it’s illegal for insurance companies to deny coverage to children because of a pre-existing condition and 2.5 million young adults have insurance on their parent’s health plan because of health reform.

In the future, health care will only get better. Starting in 2014, insurers will no longer be able to deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions, such as having had breast cancer or being pregnant. They won’t be able to charge women more than men, saving women up to $1 billion in higher premiums. And 19 million uninsured women will have the security that comes with high-quality, affordable health insurance.

Altogether, these important changes to our health care system are helping to ensure that women don’t have to worry about getting the care they need or having access to health insurance. That means that more women will be able to focus on the things that really matter in their lives – raising a family, getting an education, starting a small business, or retiring with dignity.

You can learn more about how President Obama is helping women get the care they need and read the full report on the state of women in America’s economy here.

For another view of the Affordable Care Act and its impact on women’s health, click here.