When I was a kid, I thought I was a lot tougher than I was. My mother taught me that if you acted like you could handle yourself, then you could. But sometimes that meant enduring unnecessary pain.
My family could not afford to see a doctor and had to confront health needs alone.
Several families like mine have endured illnesses simply because they could not afford medical evaluations, making early detection or prevention of them difficult.
A report from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) finds last year's health insurance reform is already changing this.
Preventative care has become much more affordable. For Medicare beneficiaries, the cost burden of services -- such as mammograms, colonoscopies and blood pressure checks -- has been lifted entirely.
This year, more than 17 million seniors have received preventive measures they desperately needed, without copayment, deductibles or coinsurance, according to HHS. And an additional one million seniors have received free wellness visits.
This is particularly great news for women. More women have struggled with chronic illnesses than men.
In 2009, the Commonwealth Fund found that more than half of women delayed or avoided preventive care because of cost concerns. Even moderate co-pays for preventive services such as mammograms or pap smears have deterred women from visiting a doctor.
Yet chronic diseases, which account for 75 percent of the nation's health spending, are often preventable. The Affordable Care Act is helping women -- young and old -- avoid the onset of illness and improve their quality of life.
In its report, HHS announced new guidelines that will ensure women of all ages receive preventive health services at no additional cost. HHS's announcement follows a report by the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine that included fundamental preventive services are a basic health need of all women.
Starting in 2012, new health insurance plans will not only put money back in the pockets of women, but they will cover a wider net of preventive care services, such as Human Papilloma Virus DNA testing, HIV screening and counseling, FDA-approved contraception, breastfeeding support and domestic violence screening and counseling.
Too many women like my mother lacked the preventive services they needed to stay healthy because of cost concerns. It's up to us to make sure today's women know about the benefits available to them.
HealthCare.gov is a great resource for anyone looking to learn more. And the Department of Health and Human Services Web site provides great guides, too.
In a country as great as ours, no one should be forced to struggle without medical coverage because of an illness that could have been detected and treated.
This blog comes from MomsRising.org and CustomFitWorkplace.org and presents innovative ideas to strengthen 21st Century American families through public policy, business practice, and cultural change.
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Hi! It’s good that there have been laws created for women. We just need to concern ourselves with affordable treatments from the benefits they give.
The individual mandate is going to happen whether you progressives and republicans want it or not. Sure, the individual mandate isn't perfect, but don't let perfect be the enemy of the good. At least some people may be eligible for a subsidy! Half a loaf of bread is better than none.
You progressives are just a tiny minority. The sooner you all realize this and support President Obama, Senator Reid, and the other democrats, the better for all of us. Better be grateful to them for their hard work!
President Obama, Senator Reid, and the other democrats are playing a game of chess with the republicans. Come 2013, they are going to use this to completely turn the tables on the republicans and the democrats will be victorious! But this will only come to pass if you all STOP this harsh judgment and whining against the democratic party. Our party will definitely win through your cooperation.
And cheer up. Soon, all 50+ million of the irresponsible fools out there without health insurance will be forced to buy it, or pay a fine. I hope all the selfish holdouts lose their homes when they can't pay their medical bills.
I am also grateful for Senator Reid's efforts with Super Congress, especially making sure that democrats have equal representation with republicans. It could have easily gone with a republican majority! Sure it's not a perfect situation, but don't let perfect be the enemy of the good. At least the republicans aren't going to automatically rule super congress by a majority. Half a loaf of bread is better than none.
Harry Reid ensured that the Super Congress -- an anti-Constitutional legislative sub-body that subverts checks & balances, not to mention representation from parties that aren't Democrat or Republican -- would contain a Republican MAJORITY by naming Max Baucus, the most right-wing U.S. Democratic Senator, as one of five seats.
"Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good" is the rallying cry of Vichy Democrats & Fifth Columnists. Don't worry, you guys already won with the Super Congress. America will become so far-right that it will be unrecognizable in 5 years.
You may call that dumb, but one told me she would rather live not knowing than knowing and being unable to do anything about it. I can understand that.
I feel especially bad for one lady who is in a high-risk category. She's worked hard all her life, got an education, has kids, and saved every penny she could. For playing by the rules and doing all the practical things all of us were told to do, a health setback could not only literally bury her, but bury her family as well.
USA! USA! USA!...
This is not a budget buster; it is projected to trim future spending by over $1 trillion by 2029. This is not a bill that provides end-of-life counseling by government “death panels,†but will expand Medicare coverage to include annual preventive checkups. The measure does mean that insurance companies soon will no longer be able to deny coverage because of serious illness or preexisting conditions like asthma or diabetes. Nor can they cancel coverage because you got sick.
It does mean that 32 million uninsured people will now get coverage. It does mean that the Medicare prescription drug program’s infamous “doughnut hole†will close over 10 years, that the Medicare program will be strengthened and its fiscal life extended at least nine years. It does mean that solid steps are being taken to curb health care costs, which, left unchecked, would continue to bankrupt families, penalize U.S. corporations—and threaten the careers of their employees. And that’s just a start.
One irony is that the plan enacted with no Republican support is so close to plans proposed by Republican icons Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan.
People democrats and Obama promised that those who were insured could and would be to keep their insurance plan and that was a lie. They sacrificed the insurance of mass to pretend they cared for the few. Premiums have sky rocketed and they call this a health care reform! Oh please!
I am but one of 10's of thousands of posters on this website and for many a time I have posted the same information over and over again about the current costs of your healthcare system as opposed to those around the world.
The OECD states that the US spends on a per capita basis $4600 more for healthcare than any other nation providing UHC (single payer).(2008)
In American numbers that figure works out to $1.4 trillion or the equivalent to the entire federal deficit.
These numbers when applied to the state level would match the retirement costs of every state's debt in 3 years or less INCLUDING California. (Debtclock.org).
I have for the sake of me, am left scratching my head as to why the US continues to entertain the two tier system at its current expense.
The current system has 308 individual customers are forced to negotiate on behalf of themselves for healthcare rates?
Would it not make smart business sense to have one entity offering 308 million potential customers approach the medical industry saying "Hey, I have all these customers available for you. What is the best price you can give me?"
Should not the medical industry be forced to compete amongst themselves for business as opposed to the current system that has them charging what every they feel?
"If it was good, I wouldn't like it".
Instead of advocating a single-payer/public option, Reid, Baucus and others allowed the Rs to change the conversation to death panels.
nice try but your comment is a complete lie.
One thing I wanted to point out is this statement:
"This is particularly great news for women. More women have struggled with chronic illnesses than men. "
This is actually not even true. Men suffer from chronic diseases much more than women do. We have a shorter life span, suffer from more chronic diseases than women do and suffer from more fatal illnesses than women do.
And in the area of mental health, men suffer suicide at a rate 400% that of women.
I always feel like modern-day "feminists" don't want equal treatment, they want special treatment. And they seem to often get it...
That is immoral and contrary to our heritage of individual freedom and liberty.