232215 Making sure health care reform lives up to its promise

Tuesday, November 9, 2010 : 10:30 AM - 10:50 AM

Cynthia A. Pearson , National Women's Health Network, Washington, DC
Shortly after health reform legislation passed Congress, health policy makers began handing out lists of what average folks will get from health reform. While the list is far from comprehensive, it includes lots of things that are pretty good, such as (to quote just one policy maker) “getting rid of pre-existing condition exclusions and discrimination; no longer allowing insurance companies to massively raise premiums; banning insurance companies from dropping your coverage when you get sick; reduces costs; eliminates cost-sharing for preventive services; and allows young adults to stay on their parents insurance through age 26”. To make sure health care reform lives up to its promise, Raising Women's Voices is implementing a combined state and federal strategy. The speaker will address specific issues that have been identified as needing watchdogging and consumer input, such as the inclusion of family planning in the suite of preventive services that are available without cost-sharing. The speaker will also share timely information about the current strategies being used, and how effective the work has been so far.

Learning Areas:
Advocacy for health and health education
Diversity and culture
Public health or related laws, regulations, standards, or guidelines
Public health or related public policy

Learning Objectives:
Identify agencies with responsibility for implementing various components of health reform. Describe opportunities for consumer input into the implementation of health reform.

Keywords: Women, Access to Care

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a co-founder of Raising Women's Voices for the Health Care We Need. I monitor agency activities on the implementation of health reform. I write analyses of proposed implementation.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.