Women Brace for Changes to Health Benefits - WebMD

[ad_1]

Nov. 11, 2016 -- For some women, the election results are getting personal.

Both President-elect Donald Trump and congressional leaders have promised to overturn the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, as one of their first orders of business.

One major fear has surfaced on social media: that women could quickly lose access to certain essential health benefits, including birth control, breast pumps, maternity care, and childbirth services. The term IUD was even trending on Twitter as women urged each other not to wait to get reliable contraception. And according to Facebook data, more than 350,000 users have used the term "birth control" since the election.

Jane Doe, MD, tweeted: “Insured? Get your IUD now, before Trump-Pence reverse the requirement for full contraceptive coverage.”

Nasty Woman wrote: “Pregnant people who plan to breastfeed: Ask your doctor to write you a prescription for a breastpump before ACA is repealed. They are $400.”

It turns out there is reason to fear.

While a full repeal of Obamacare will require an act of Congress -- and probably a lengthy fight -- the coverage for women’s services and contraceptives could disappear with the stroke of the new president’s pen.

“They do not need a full repeal of the ACA in order to change or restrict the contraceptive coverage provision,” says Alina Salganicoff, vice president and director of women’s health policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation in Menlo Park, CA.

While certain provisions of the law are spelled out explicitly in its text, when it comes to preventive services for women, the law leaves it up the Health Services and Resources Administration (HRSA) to decide exactly what insurers must cover.

If he chooses, Trump could direct HRSA to apply different rules.

“With an administrative action, changes can be made,” Salganicoff says.

She says the contraceptive coverage guaranteed by the law has been incredibly popular with women, and it has resulted in dramatic reductions in women’s out-of-pocket spending on prescriptions.

From 2012 to 2014, the average American who had insurance through their employer saw their out-of-pocket spending on prescription drugs drop by an average of about $8 a year. Birth control pills accounted for 63% of that savings, according to data collected by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

[ad_2]