Supreme Court Victory: 19 Million Uninsured Women Win

In a big win for women’s health, the Supreme Court ruled this morning that the Affordable Care Act is, indeed, constitutional. What that means is that we’re on track for full implementation of many benefits, including:

• Women’s health services, like mammograms, pap smears, birth control and cancer screenings, will be available with no co-pay;
• Women will no longer have to pay more than men for the same insurance coverage;
• Insurers can’t deny coverage due to pre-existing conditions; and
• Insurers can’t cancel our policies if we develop breast cancer or other serious illnesses.

However, the court put limits on the Medicaid expansion, ruling that the federal government cannot withdraw existing Medicaid funding if a state chooses not to comply with the expansion. This provision was expected to add nearly 30 million more people to the program. You can be certain that the Ms. Foundation and its grantees will be working hard across the states to ensure that women are not excluded from the health care system due to this ruling.

On a lighter note, the Ms. staff shared some laughs together throughout this joyous day, with the Affordable Care Cat and When SCOTUS Upheld Obamacare. We hope you’re able to smile, as well, content with the knowledge that health care reform is no longer in jeopardy.