Finally acknowledging the causal links between lack of preventative care, poor health outcomes, and soaring healthcare costs, the Women’s Preventative Care Amendment of the Affordable Care Act went into effect last week. As of August 1st, 2012 insurance companies must provide for several essential women’s services free of charge, including annual woman-care visits, gestational diabetes screenings, STI and HIV counseling, breastfeeding support, HPV DNA testing, and, that holy grail, contraception.
As we joyously bid adieu to copays, we cannot underestimate the revolutionary significance of these provisions. For the first time in this country, women’s mental, reproductive, and sexual health are being recognized as essential components of the overall health and well-being of women and their families.
One among the mandated services has especially caught my attention for this reason: screening and counseling for domestic violence.
Showing posts with label Affordable Care Act. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Affordable Care Act. Show all posts
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