The ACA Improved Coverage for Women, but Insurer Exclusions Can Still Threaten Their Health
<p>The Affordable Care Act transformed the individual health insurance market for women. Because of the law, insurers can no longer deny coverage or charge higher premiums based on gender or current or prior health conditions. And all individual market plans must cover maternity services, birth control, mammograms, and mental health services.</p><p>But new research shows that the exclusion of certain services from health plan benefits can still leave women without adequate coverage.</p>
<p>In a new study from The Commonwealth Fund and the National Women’s Law Center, researchers Dania Palanker and Karen Davenport identify health plan exclusions that can affect women needing maintenance therapy for chronic conditions like lupus or depression, genetic testing used to identify risk for breast or gynecological cancers, or other important services disproportionately used by women. Often the exclusions are described in language that’s difficult to understand for somebody with limited health literacy.</p>
<p>Read the brief to learn more about these gaps in women’s coverage and the steps that regulators and insurers can take to address the problem.</p>