A Good Day for Our Ladybits

Today is a wonderful day for our lady bits…well not just our bits, our minds, bodies and spirits! Despite all of the controversy surrounding the Affordable Care Act, as of today, August 1, insurance companies will be required to offer women’s preventative health services with no co-pays.

According to Countdown to Coverage, a campaign from Raising Women’s Voices for Health Care, this means no co-pays for: well woman visits, affordable contraception, important screenings and counseling for intimate partner violence, counseling for sexually transmitted diseases (including HIV), breastfeeding equipment and counseling and diabetes screening when you’re pregnant. This is unprecedented and will help millions of women around the country access affordable vital health services for our physical and emotional well-being.

One of the major wins is that insured women will no longer have to pay co-pays for birth control including the pill, IUDs and even tubal ligation. One of our Ladies Lotto members, Marissa Spano, created an excellent video for the esteemed reproductive health thinktank, the Guttmacher Institute, highlighting the importance of contraceptive use for women in the United States.

Note that this applies to women who have existing insurance plans and that this will be required by any new insurance plans created after today. So if you join a plan tomorrow, or next year, you will benefit. Although, this does not apply to uninsured women, this is a MAJOR step in the right direction and we get closer to 2014 where there will be more affordable health care plans available (as long as the GOP does not repeal the ACA).

Make sure you spread the facts to your ladyfriends about the benefits of the Affordable Care Act and what’s now available to us. Thank you President Obama for taking a stand in valuing women, our health and our bodies.