HERvotes Blog Carnivals

HERvotes Blog Carnival: Celebrating the ACA and New Coverage for Preventative Care!

August 1, 2012 by admin Leave a Comment

By Cindy Pearson, co-founder, National Women’s Health Network

HERvotes is joining our voices together in a blog carnival to celebrate and defend women’s preventive services, including contraception. Starting August 1, all new insurance plans have to cover seven preventive services with no extra fees. That means women won’t have to put off their well-woman exam because they haven’t met their deductible, struggle to pay for the cost of a breast pump, or use an inappropriate contraceptive method just because the co-payment is more affordable.

These new rules, part of the Affordable Care Act, are opposed by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and others who believe that contraception is always wrong. After failing to stop the implementation of the new rules through political pressure, opponents have turned to the courts, where they argue that requiring insurance companies to include contraceptive counseling and methods violates the religious liberty of businesses. We won’t let these attacks stop us from speaking out, because we know that the availability of these preventive care services will make a positive impact on the health, well-being and economic security of women.

Through this blog carnival and our organizational campaigns, we will raise our voices to educate and support all women’s access to health care that meets their needs, no matter where they work or go to school.

Join us by sharing the posts below on Facebook, Twitter (using the hashtag #HERvotes), and other social media. And be sure to follow @HERvotes on Twitter!

#HERvotes, a multi-organization campaign launched in August 2011, advocates women using our voices and votes to stop the attacks on the women’s movement’s major advances, many of which are at risk in the next election.

Part of the #HERvotes blog carnival.

Read More:

Affordable Health Care for Women – Lauren Reisig, JWI

Thanks, ACA! New No-Cost Preventative Care Means More Women Stay Healthy – Desiree Hoffman, YWCA

At Long Last, Preventative Care Will Be Affordable for All Women, Thanks to Health Reform – Judith Lichtman, National Partnership for Women and Families

Taking Care of Women – Elisabeth MacNamara, League of Women Voters

The Value of Extending Preventative Care – Carole Levine, National Council of Jewish Women

Celebrating New Access to Birth Control for some Latinas, and Continuing the Fight for the Rest – Verónica Bayetti, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health

No more struggling to find co-pay dollars for Contraception! What’s in it for Women? – Keely Monroe, Raising Women’s Voices

Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW) Applauds Preventive Services New Health Plans Must Provide August 1

August 1, 2012 by admin Leave a Comment

By Carolyn J. Jacobson, creator of CLUW‘s Contraceptive Equity Project and Cervical Cancer Prevention Works project

Thanks to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), starting on August 1, all new health care plans will be required at the start of their plan year to cover a variety of preventive health care services with no co-pay or deductible. Because some preventive benefits are already in place, such as prenatal screenings and mammograms, over 20 million American women have received at least one preventive health care service without having to make a co-payment or pay additional costs.

The provisions going into effect on August 1 will make preventive care more affordable to millions of Americans. CLUW President Karen See notes that this coverage is “especially important to women, as they are more likely than men to avoid needed health care, including preventive care, due to cost.”

“August 1 is a very significant day,” she added, as “on this day and over the next few years, as an increasing number of health plans come under the law’s reach, more and more women will have access to a wide range of preventive services without co-payments or deductibles.”

Preventive services in new health plans, starting August 1, must provide the following services without co-pay or deductibles:
·       Well-woman visits
·        Breastfeeding support, supplies, and counseling
·        Contraceptive methods and counseling
·        Screening and counseling for domestic partner violence
·        Screening for gestational diabetes
·        Counseling for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV
·        Screening for HIV
·        DNA testing for high-risk strains of HPV

CLUW has partnered with a number of coalitions and organizations working in support of passage of the ACA, as well as on educating women about the law and what its provisions offer after it was signed into law.

One of these organizations, The National Women’s Law Center, has provided outstanding resources at each step of the process. CLUW is especially pleased to point union women (including those whose plans are “grandfathered” under the law) to NWLC’s new fact sheet, How To Find Out If and When Your Health Plan Will Begin Covering Women’s Preventive Services with No Co-Pay.

It encourages women to call their respective insurance plan and it provides phone scripts (one for women whose plans are grandfathered and another for those who are not), along with suggested questions to ask to find out if the plan is providing the women’s preventive services and details about what services they are providing.

“While we celebrate the preventive provisions about to take effect,” CLUW Pres. See cautions that “we must also remember that opponents of the health care law are trying to weaken it and take away benefits. It’s incumbent on all of us to make certain that we get the truth out on the positive impact of the ACA on America and Americans, especially women and families, to all the women we can reach.”

Part of the #HERvotes blog carnival.

Filed Under: Affordable Care Act (2010), Health, HERvotes Blog Carnivals Tagged With: affordable care act, HERvotes Blog Carnivals, preventive, preventive health, Reproductive Rights

Class Matters: Why VAWA Needs to Be Reauthorized

July 18, 2012 by admin Leave a Comment

By Danielle Marryshow, NWPC
As a college student, I must be especially careful in my own relationships because victims of teen and college dating violence, according to the Center for Disease Control, “may also carry patterns of violence into future relationships” as a result of their experience. As a child of domestic violence, I am more likely to exhibit increased tolerance for violence in my own relationships. As such, I must be especially careful not to fall into a “pattern of violence”. If violence is not prevented early, it is even harder for victims to escape their abuser—even if they want to.

The complexities of domestic violence hit me one day in November. I was leaving my work-study job to get to class. As I stepped out onto the street, a woman yelled out to me. In a shaking voice, she told me that she was attempting to get to a battered women’s shelter. She informed me that she was pregnant, her husband had locked her in a closet for the last three days, and she needed money to get a cab, as the shelter was not accessible by public transportation. She repeatedly kept assuring me that she wasn’t crazy, while looking around her suspiciously as if he were right behind her.

I knew she wasn’t crazy, because I recognized the look in her eye. It was the same look I had seen on my mother’s face. It was the same look my mother had seen on my grandmother’s face. The look was one of fear.

The bipartisan, Senate-version of the Violence Against Women Act must be re-authorized for several reasons, but one of the most important is its provision to ensure safe homes and economic security for victims. Though all women benefit from these programs, women from lower socio-economic backgrounds especially benefit from the added security.

The reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act revises eligibility requirements for transitional housing grants to specify that any victims of domestic violence are eligible. This would help make it easier for women to escape abusive relationships, by removing the risk of homelessness. These grants would allow the woman I met to have more time after leaving emergency shelter to find permanent housing.

They also allow battered women to leave all at once, and catch their abuser off-guard rather than leave in stages and invite further danger. In fact, leaving in stages is only possible when, as in my mother’s case, you have a strong support system of people helping you escape the dangerous situation.

When my mother began divorce proceedings, my mother, father, brother and I continued to live under the same roof for several months while she found somewhere to live. Had my grandmother not decided to stay with us and my future stepfather not made himself a presence, we would have been in much more danger than we were.

Many battered women aren’t that fortunate. Many women’s abusers have isolated them from their family and friends, leaving them utterly dependent. In order to leave, they often have to leave when their abuser is asleep or away and all at once. Transitional housing is necessary so that they have the time to secure permanent housing and get on their feet.

The transitional housing grants aren’t just used for housing alone. They are also used for support services for victims to secure employment such as counseling and training. This is critical, as many victims are financially dependent on their abuser.

The woman I ran into illustrates that problem. She was so financially dependent on her husband that she didn’t even have the $10 it cost to take a cab to the shelter. Guaranteeing the relative financial security of victims is crucial to getting them away and keeping them away from their abusers.

My mother, in contrast, had a very good job and made a comparable amount to my father. She had her own bank accounts and assets her in name. Because of her financial independence, the added risk of not being able to support us if she left was nonexistent. When we finally did leave, she was certain that she would be able to find housing that she could afford and that she would be able to support us financially.

The Violence Against Women Act has several provisions that help abused women (and men) get away from the terror that has consumed their everyday lives. The section that helps women secure homes and employment are critical in increasing the number of women who successfully make it out of an abusive relationship.

Class should not be a prerequisite for safety. It is the government’s responsibility to make sure that its citizens are as free from harm as possible. Since 1994, the United States government has been committed to doing just that.

The act expired in September 2011. For almost a year, these protections and many more have not existed for battered women. Women have had to consider the fact that by leaving they could become destitute. Many will make the calculation that they cannot afford to leave—when they really can’t afford not to.

Without its swift re-authorization, thousands of women will be trapped in relationships where they are physically and emotionally abused every day. As the House and the Senate square off, many more women will die in these toxic relationships. It is imperative that the House adopt the “gold-standard” Senate-version of the reauthorization, and help women create lives for themselves and their children, free from abuse.

Part of the #HERvotes blog carnival.

Filed Under: Health, HERvotes Blog Carnivals, Violence Against Women Act (1994) Tagged With: domestic violence, HERvotes Blog Carnivals, Reproductive Justice, Violence Against Women Act

Violence is Violence, No Matter What Gender

July 18, 2012 by admin Leave a Comment

By Samantha Aster, NWPC

After reading comment sections and posts responding to articles on the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, it seems that one of the most prolific criticisms of the act is that it focuses solely on women. Many ask why women are singled out as a protected group when men are the recipients of domestic abuse, too. Some go further, suggesting a Violence Against Men Act.

Why does VAWA focus on women? Because up until the last 150 years or so, women were considered the property of their husbands, fathers, and brothers. And as property, women did not have very many legal rights and protections. Men could do as they pleased with the women in their households, including physically and sexually abusing them. While there has been some progress, the government has been slow to act on increasing certain protections for women. For example, the first federal law making marital rape a criminal act was not passed until 1993. And even still, many states have exemptions from prosecution for husbands who rape. Today, women continue to be the most frequent victims of domestic and sexual violence. VAWA was passed to help a group that has historically suffered violence combat continuing and future abuse.

But the Violence Against Women Act is not entirely gender specific. The spirit of VAWA is to help all victims of violence, and the bill gives prosecutors and police tools to help them, regardless of gender. Male victims who contact VAWA-funded groups are granted the same advocacy services as female victims. Male and female victims have the same access to pro-bono legal services. VAWA increased resources for families who deal with domestic abuse, which helps both men and women in these families. In 2005, VAWA was expanded to fund and provide sexual assault programs that better meet the needs of male victims. And these protections work well for men: since the law passed in 1994, the number of men killed by an intimate partner has decreased 57%. These are just some examples of how men and women are protected under VAWA.

Ultimately, these criticisms of VAWA are unfounded. While VAWA was originally passed with the idea of helping women, the act actually works to combat violence against both sexes. VAWA must be passed in a way that maintains the important protections that already exist for both men and women. Domestic violence affects us all, so it is time for Congress to pass VAWA and protect us all.

Part of the #HERvotes blog carnival.

Filed Under: Health, HERvotes Blog Carnivals, Violence Against Women Act (1994) Tagged With: domestic violence, HERvotes Blog Carnivals, Reproductive Justice, Violence Against Women Act

HERvotes Blog Carnival: It’s Time to Pass the Paycheck Fairness Act!

May 31, 2012 by admin Leave a Comment

By Fatima Goss Graves, Vice President for Education and Employment at the National Women’s Law Center

For this 14^th #HERvotes blog carnival, we’re blogging about equal pay and the need for the Paycheck Fairness Act – which will be on the Senate floor for a vote next week.

Why do we need the Paycheck Fairness Act (PFA)? It would update the 50-year-old law by providing incentives to employers to pay women fairly. It also would ban employers from retaliating against their employees who choose to share salary information with their coworkers.

It’s time for Congress to stand up for the rights of working women and to advance fair pay! The PFA is pending in the 112^th Congress, with a vote expected in the Senate on June 5. It has twice passed the House, and it fell just two votes short of a Senate vote on its merits in the last Congress. This is a commonsense bill that would help women and their families – especially in this tough economy.

So please join us in supporting the PFA today! Start by calling you Senators today and urge them to vote for it. After you’ve called, read and share the blog posts below. We’ll be tweeting about this blog carnival all day with the hashtag #HERvotes and we encourage you to join us!

Part of the #HERvotes blog carnival.

Read More:

I Didn’t Get Equal Pay. You Should- Lilly Ledbetter, via AAUW

Advancing Paycheck Fairness for Latinas means Advancing Immigrant and Reproductive Rights- Natalie D. Camastra, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health

Restoring Some Reality to the Paycheck Fairness Debate- Fatima Goss Graves, National Women’s Law Center

Paycheck Fairness Makes the Political Personal- Alison Channon, National Women’s Law Center

Closing the Wage Gap Is About Fairness, Not Magic!- Samantha Lint, National Women’s Law Center

NASW Supports the Paycheck Fairness Act- National Association of Social Workers

If Our College Graduates Can’t Fight For Fair Pay, Who Can? (PDF) – Jamie Dolkas, Equal Rights Advocates

Salary Negotiation, Powerful Women and the Wage Gap- Katherine Birdsall, Feminist Majority Foundation

Raise the Minimum Wage and Narrow the Wage Gap- Abby Lane, National Women’s Law Center

Paycheck Fairness Does Not Have to be an Oxymoron- Malak Yusuf, Wider Opportunities for Women

America’s Women and Families Deserve a Vote on the Paycheck Fairness Act- Sarah Crawford, National Partnership for Women & Families

The Facts Behind the Call for Equal Pay- Christine Miranda, NOW

Families, the Wage Gap, and the Economy- Caitlin Highland, Feminist Majority Foundation

Stimulate the Economy: Pay Women Fairly- Linda Meric, 9to5, National Association of Working Women

HERvotes Blog Carnival: Equal Pay and the Single Woman- Elisabeth Gehl, Business and Professional Women’s Foundation

The Wage Gap: Collective Change, Not Choice- Maggie Fridinger, National Council of Women’s Organizations

The Paycheck Fairness Act: Telling the Truth About Workforce Equality – Dani Nispel, National Council of Women’s Organizations

Paycheck Equality: It’s Not a Suggestion, It’s the Law- Anny Bolgiano, Coalition of Labor Union Women

Women of Color, the Wage Gap and the Paycheck Fairness Act- Katherine Birdsall, Feminist Majority Foundation

A Jewish Call for Equal Pay- Ian Hainline & Katharine Nasielski, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism

Justice for Working Women- Miri Cypers, Jewish Women International

The Paycheck Fairness Act: For When Women are Old and Broke- Kate McGuinness, Fem2.0

The Relationship Between Unequal Pay and Other Forms of Gender Discrimination- Debra Miller, Feminist Majority Foundation

Filed Under: Paycheck Fairness Act Tagged With: HERvotes Blog Carnivals, Pay Equity, Paycheck Fairness Act

Stimulate the Economy: Pay Women Fairly

May 31, 2012 by admin Leave a Comment

by Linda Meric, Executive Director, 9to5, National Association of Working Women

Misogyny has taken center stage this 2012 election cycle. This “war on women” has legislators voting to limit women’s control over their health. Political candidates have spoken out against women serving in combat. Candidates have called the federal equal pay law a “nuisance,” and some elected officials are claiming that pay discrimination against women doesn’t exist.

The simple truth is that a significant pay gap does exist for women and people of color. Women were paid 77 cents for every dollar men got paid in 2010 annual earnings. For women of color, the pay gap is even wider. African American women earned 67 cents and Latinas 58 cents for every dollar earned by white males, the highest earners.

Mary Henderson, a 9to5 Colorado member, knows about pay inequity first-hand. When she worked at a Colorado Wal-Mart store, she was paid thousands of dollars less than a man with less education and the same seniority in the same position. When she inquired about being paid less, she was punished with a transfer to a store requiring an hours-long commute.

We need to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act (S. 3220) to close loopholes in the Equal Pay Act and bar retaliation against workers like Mary Henderson and others who disclose their own wages to co-workers. Without this bill, employers penalize and even fire employees for talking about their salaries, leaving workers in the dark, preventing them from ever finding out about pay discrimination.

9to5 member LaTerrell Bradford, calls equal pay a “non-negotiable.” While working as part of an all-female support team, a man was hired in the same job classification. Her female supervisor discovered that he was to earn much more than any of the women and advocated for every team member to be paid at the higher rate. Human resources relented because as Bradford says, “It would not have been fair nor legal to sit next to him, do the exact same work and have him be paid more.”

The wage gap has long-term effects on the economic security of women and families. Women lose hundreds of thousands of dollars, up to over a million, over their careers. That means less money to make ends meet and achieve economic security for families. A lifetime of lower wages also means that women save less for retirement and qualify for lower social security payments.

The country is leading up to an election where women will play a major role in choosing our president. Candidates need to focus on issues that are important to women: pay equity and the economy. Pay equity reduces poverty and stimulates the economy. All women deserve to be paid fairly, and when they are, their families and the economy will win.

Part of the #HERvotes blog carnival.

Background on 9to5, National Association of Working Women: 9to5 is one of the largest national membership-based organizations of working women in the U.S., creating a powerful force for change. Founded in 1973, 9to5 empowers women to organize and lead campaigns on family-friendly workplace policies, equal opportunity and economic security issues. To learn more visit 9to5.org or call the Job Survival Helpline at (800) 522-0925.

Filed Under: Paycheck Fairness Act Tagged With: HERvotes Blog Carnivals, Paycheck Fairness Act

Paycheck Equality: It’s Not a Suggestion, It’s the Law

May 31, 2012 by admin Leave a Comment

by Anny Bolgiano, Intern, Coalition of Labor Union Women

Q: What’s better than paycheck equity legislation?

A: Effective paycheck equity legislation.

The government makes a lot of suggestions and recommendations to us Americans. The CDC recommends staying home when you have the flu and getting 2.5 hours of exercise per week, and the EPA recommends testing your home for radon and checking the UV index before outdoor activities. The government also makes laws, and we all know how laws are different from recommendations and mere suggestions. It is illegal to litter, it is illegal to trespass, it is illegal to sell certain drugs, and IT IS ILLEGAL TO PAY A WOMAN LESS THAN A MAN FOR THE SAME WORK. I put that last one in all caps because some employers seem to be a little confused about which category it falls under, and luckily Congress has picked up on this and has decided to clarify the matter.

This Tuesday, June 5^th, the Senate is expected to vote on the Paycheck Fairness Act, (S. 797, H.R. 1519), taking a step towards remedying the consistent wage gap in our country. Because gender discrimination is already illegal, many people are unclear about why we need this act. It’s important that we understand how the Paycheck Fairness Act would build off of existing legislation, and why it’s necessary. Because you know what’s even better than paycheck equity legislation? Effective paycheck equity legislation.

The legislation would improve the Equal Pay Act of 1963, an act which made it illegal to pay men and women different wages for the same work. This was an important step towards gender equality, but if we evaluate the effectiveness of the bill, we see that it needs to be supplemented. Change has been overall positive, but insufficient. According to the National Women’s Law Center, between 1963 and 2010, the wage gap went from 41.1% to 22.6%, illustrating that pay inequity is still an urgent issue in this country. The bill recognizes the need for close monitoring of the problem, and would enable more comprehensive data collection by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. General awareness of pay inequality would also be promoted; the legislation would establish The National Award for Pay Equity in the Workplace, and require the Department of Labor to confront the issue at a national summit on wage disparity.

Equality cannot be achieved through courts and legislation alone; it must be monitored and maintained on all levels by knowledgeable and legally empowered workers, especially women workers. The Paycheck Fairness Act would provide women with a legislative “toolbox,” taking steps to improve the enforceability of the law, and making women partners in the eradication of their discrimination. Congress has tried sending the message, “Hey employers, let’s stop discriminating” and now, the Paycheck Fairness Act also turns to women and says, “Hey women, let’s not let them get away with this anymore” The bill would prevent companies from penalizing workers for being transparent with others about their salaries or inquiring about other employee’s salaries, and establish negotiation skills training for girls and women. Additionally, it would bolster the repercussions of discriminatory paycheck practices, providing women with the legal safeguards of compensatory and punitive damages.

Let’s hope that employers begin to understand the difference between legislation and recommendations. You won’t be fined for not knowing the UV index and you won’t go to jail if you don’t exercise enough or go shopping with the flu (seriously though, it’s a bad idea). But you do have to pay women the same wage as their male counterparts, and there are legal repercussions for gender pay discrimination. Employers need to make decisions with the knowledge that unethical, discriminatory behavior has legal repercussions. More importantly, there is a human cost, which is the true and lasting repercussion of all grave injustices.

Part of the #HERvotes blog carnival.

Filed Under: Paycheck Fairness Act Tagged With: HERvotes Blog Carnivals, Pay Equity, Paycheck Fairness Act

Diseases/Conditions that Blame the Victim: How the ACA Will Make a Difference for Women

May 18, 2012 by admin Leave a Comment

Carolyn J. Jacobson, founding member, Coalition of Labor Union Women

National Women’s Health Week provides an opportunity to talk about something that’s not on most people’s radar screens, that is, the consequences of blame and shame connected to certain conditions/illnesses – specifically HIV/AIDS, Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), Diabetes/Obesity and Lung Cancer. The National Council of Women’s Organizations, to which the Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW) is affiliated, hosted a panel discussion on this topic in Washington, DC on May 15. CLUW has been on the forefront in educating women in the labor community about health care issues and how to lead a healthier, longer life.

People who suffer from these conditions/diseases have something in common besides living with a chronic disease or condition and its physical consequences. They also face the consequences of blame and shame, which often causes victims to suffer from depression and denial of the disease or condition, which can lead to a late diagnosis – which frequently results in a poorer prognosis. And women tend to be most vulnerable to the consequences of blame and shame associated with these conditions and diseases.

Education around these diseases/conditions, along with raising awareness of the real reasons these diseases/conditions occur can help diminish blame and shame and the consequences of blame and shame. Another vehicle for improving the situation is implementation of various provisions of the Affordable Care Act.

AIDS/HIV

In the U.S.:

Women make up 30 percent of domestic cases of HIV.
African American and Latina women are 80 percent of American women with HIV.
HIV positive women consistently have poorer clinical outcomes and higher mortality rates.

“These disparities are related to the social injustices and discrimination that women face,” Serra Sippel, president of the Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE) notes. “In order to end these disparities we need to end the social injustices and stigma that women, especially HIV positive women, face.”

She explains that although there are medical interventions to keep HIV positive women healthy, “we are behind in the social aspects, as stigma keeps women from accessing care or using condoms. The fear of admitting positive status not only keeps women from using condoms but also from getting tested in the first place…”

Sexually Transmitted Infections

Another group of diseases that have blame and shame associated with them are sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Deborah Arrindell, vice president and director of Policy at the American Social Health Association observes, “In all things sexual, women most often bear the blame.”

STIs are more easily transmitted to women than from women. Arrindell points out that there are STIs for which there is no test for men or for which they are not tested. Additionally, several STIs have very few or no symptoms in men, but do for women (pelvic inflammatory disease, infertility, cervical cancer, etc.). A consequence, is that STIs have a disproportionate effect on women and women are more likely to be blamed for the transmission of STIs.

Diabetes/Obesity

A lot of the guilt associated with diabetes is because people don’t understand how people get it, said Diana Karczmarczyk, director of High Risk Programs and Health Disparities (AANHPI and Women’s Initiative) at the American Diabetes Association. She explains that diabetes is a cluster of diseases, that is, many things going wrong in the body. She notes that “There is not one ‘cause.’ Nothing, genetics, age, obesity, is a 100% cause of diabetes.”

The numbers in the U.S. are staggering and growing:

Twenty six million Americans have diabetes.
It’s about 50/50 men and women.
Approximately 85% of people with Type 2 diabetes are overweight or obese. Obesity, however, is not the only cause of Type 2.

“Education is vital for diabetics,” she says, stressing that “Many diabetics do not understand the disease.” “It is most important to realize that each diabetic’s treatment is different and individualized.”

She emphasizes that “Everyone, not just diabetics, needs to learn how to read food labels (and understand what they mean) and have access to healthy foods.”

Additionally, women are often blamed for diabetes since they are the primary care givers and cooks in the household. Not only does society blame them, but so do husbands and family members.

One problem is that “not enough people get tested or screened” for the disease. She points out that one in twelve people have diabetes and one in four doesn’t know they have it. And one in three is at risk. She adds, “Overweight needs to be a term not about stigma, but instead used as a clinical designation that indicates that person is at risk.”

Women tend to be at high risk for depression and not very well known is that diabetic women are at higher risk for depression. Also not well known is that there are resources for help, especially for patients who are suicidal. Many diabetics are sad about being a burden to their family, which, she says, can lead to clinical depression.

Lung Cancer

More people die from lung cancer than any other type of cancer – that goes for men and women. The numbers for women are 160,000 a year – more than breast and gynecological cancers combined.

Most of the lung cancer prevention efforts in the U.S. focus on smoking prevention, as cigarette smoking is the number one risk factor for lung cancer, points out Tina Hone, Outreach director at the Lung Cancer Alliance. In the United States, cigarette smoking causes about 90% of lung cancers, which includes many people who have heeded the warnings and stopped smoking many years ago. People who quit smoking have a lower risk of lung cancer than if they had continued to smoke, but their risk is higher than the risk for people who never smoked.

Lung cancer treatment funding is inversely proportionate to the number of people who suffer from it. The reason for this, she observes, is largely due to the stigma of lung cancer that is built into the public health infrastructure. She believes that the public health community declared victory over lung cancer when it began focusing on smoking cessation. She also notes a “you did this to yourself” mentality that is pervasive in the U.S.

A direct consequence is that the bill her organization drafted, the Lung Cancer Mortality Reduction Act of 2011, which would require the Secretary of HHS to implement a comprehensive program to achieve a 50% reduction in the mortality rate of lung cancer by 2020 and would require the program to include initiatives throughout HHS, has very few co-sponsors.

Hone observes that people who have lung cancer don’t want others to know they have it, fearing that if they do, they will be blamed for getting it.

The survival rate for lung cancer is 15% — largely due to late diagnosis. She notes that this rate is the same as it was 40 years ago when President Nixon declared war on cancer.

Although smoking is the primary cause of the increase in lung cancer in women, lung cancer is diagnosed in women who have never smoked. Of those with lung cancer who never smoked, a slight majority are women.

She does have some good news: Two years ago, the national lung cancer screening trial ended. The trial performed a low dose CT screening of high risk patients with the hope of reducing the mortality rate by at least 20%. The study ended early because the goal was reached early. The protocol has been sent to the US Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF).

How the ACA Will Make a Difference

Brook Kelly, in her blog post, Why the Affordable Care Act is Critical For Women Living With HIV , she accurately calls The Affordable Care Act “a first and necessary step toward reforming our health care system to better meet the needs of all people.”

The Affordable Care Act includes a number of provisions specifically geared to making it easier for women to avoid getting HIV/AIDS, Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), Diabetes/Obesity and Lung Cancer. And if they contract any of these, it also includes provisions to help get an early diagnosis, before the consequences can be more serious.

An especially important provision of the ACA guarantees women access to preventative services annually– with no co-pay. Annual well-woman preventive visits include cervical cancer screenings. (Cervical cancer is caused by an STI, the human papillomavirus). ACA also includes enhancements to coverage related to HIV, other STIs, cervical cancer and pregnancy care.

Additionally, other provisions of the ACA:

increase access to health insurance by expanding the Medicaid program to all people who live below 133 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL) period – disability status will no longer be required;
prohibit health insurance discrimination against women and against people with pre-existing conditions, including HIV;
provide greater health care security;
create a health care system that better meets women’s unique needs;
create new restrictions on annual limits, with minimum limits increased annually until they are completely prohibited by 2014;
eliminate pre-existing coverage exclusion preventing coverage;
accept more low income people into Medicaid program;
provide tax credits and subsidies to people with moderate incomes (up to 400 percent of the poverty level);
prevent insurers from dropping someone when he or she develops one of these conditions/diseases;
end annual and lifetime limits on benefits;
disallow insurers to charge higher rates simply because someone had diabetes;
general emphasis on prevention and wellness.

Filed Under: Affordable Care Act (2010) Tagged With: affordable care act, AIDS/HIV, diabetes, HERvotes Blog Carnivals, lung cancer, sexually transmitteed infections

HERvotes Blog Carnival: National Women’s Health Week

May 17, 2012 by admin Leave a Comment

By Cindy Pearson, co-founder of Raising Women’s Voices for the Health Care We Need

For the 13th #HERvotes blog carnival, we’re celebrating National Women’s Health Week. The federal government launched National Women’s Health Week ten years ago in an effort to improve women’s health by building awareness about things like exercise, healthy eating and the importance of regular check-ups.

It’s nice to have our government speaking out about the importance of our health, but we know that it takes more than just awareness to insure that all women are healthy. It takes access to high quality affordable health care services. For too many women, health care hasn’t been affordable, especially reproductive health services. That’s starting to change, thanks to the new health law. This week’s #HERvotes blog carnival will focus on the importance of the preventive well-woman services of the Affordable Care Act.

You may already know that the Affordable Care Act requires new health plans to cover contraceptive counseling and methods without any co-payments. But did you know that plans will also be required to cover breast feeding supplies? And screening for domestic violence? These are just a few of the new preventive services that will be covered for women starting later this year.

The #HERvotes blog carnival will feature stories about how real women and their families are already benefiting from the new women’s health services and information on new parts of the Affordable Care Act that will be implemented in August 2012.

You can participate by telling your own story and by sharing the posts below on Facebook, Twitter (using the hashtag #HERvotes) and other social media.

Part of the #HERvotes blog carnival.

Read More:

Diseases/Conditions that Blame the Victim: How the ACA Will Make a Difference for Women- Carolyn J. Jacobson, founding member, Coalition of Labor Union Women

New Reasons to Celebrate Women’s Health Week- Beth Scott, American Association of University Women

Who’s Afraid of the Ob/Gyn? Lack of Communication Between Women and their Doctors- Dani Nispel, Program and Policy Intern, National Council of Women’s Organizations

National Women’s Health Week: Pledging to Take Care of Ourselves- Ann Rose Greenberg, Marketing Coordinator, Jewish Women International

Celebrating Women’s Health Week as a Grandmother- Nancy K. Kaufman, CEO, National Council of Jewish Women

Get your women’s health checkup today. It’s covered!- Lois Uttley, Co-Founder, Raising Women’s Voices for the Health Care We Need

League Recognizes National Women’s Health Week- Stephanie, League of Women Voters

#HERvotes, a multi-organization campaign launched in August 2011, advocates women using our voices and votes to stop the attacks on the major advances of the women’s movement, many of which are at risk in the next election.

Filed Under: Affordable Care Act (2010) Tagged With: affordable care act, HERvotes Blog Carnivals

Get your women’s health checkup today. It’s covered!

May 15, 2012 by admin Leave a Comment

By Lois Uttley

Overdue on your mammogram or Pap smear? Trying to quit smoking or lose weight? Thinking about having a baby?

It’s National Women’s Health Week. What better time to make an appointment and get caught up on the health care you need!

Many women’s health services are now covered by our health insurance plans without extra charges, like co-pays and deductibles, because of the new health care law (the Affordable Care Act). Because we don’t have to dig into our pocketbooks for those extra charges, we can actually afford to take advantage of the health insurance coverage we have. Examples of what’s now covered without co-pays include:

Cervical cancer screening for sexually active women;
Mammograms every 1 to 2 years for women over 40;
Help quitting smoking, especially if you are pregnant;
Cholesterol and blood pressure tests;
Folic acid supplements for women who want to become pregnant; and
Osteoporosis screening for at-risk women over 60.

There’s improved coverage for our children, as well, including no-copay coverage for immunizations against common childhood diseases, tests of hearing and vision and screening for possible autism. And, our adult children can stay on our family health insurance policies until age 26, so we don’t have to worry about them going without health insurance after graduating from high school or college. In fact, we think the coverage for moms and our kids if so great, we’re calling it MamaCare!

We will have even more great preventive care coverage starting August 1, when the women’s preventive services provision of the health care law takes effect. From then on, all new health insurance plans will be required to cover, without co-pays, these critically-important women’s health services:

Contraceptive services, including birth control pills, IUDs and even tubal ligations;
Breastfeeding counseling and rental of press pumps;
Screening for STIs, gestational diabetes and domestic violence; and
Annual well-woman visits, when you and your primary care provider can make a plan to keep you healthy.

At Raising Women’s Voices for the Health Care We Need, we’re counting down to this great new coverage that will benefit millions of women. Learn more about how you will benefit at our Countdown to Coverage website.

Lois Uttley, MPP, is co-founder of Raising Women’s Voices for the Health Care We Need, a national initiative working to make sure the Affordable Care Act meets the needs of women and our families.

Filed Under: Affordable Care Act (2010), Birth Control (1965) Tagged With: affordable care act, Birth Control (1965), health insurance, health reform, HERvotes Blog Carnivals, preventive health, the pill