ObamaCare’s Disastrous Impact on Women’s Healthcare

Women and Families Suffer as Healthcare Law Limits Choices, Reduces Quality of Care and Increases Premiums

Many of ObamaCare’s supporters are holding Thursday events to tout the healthcare law’s so-called benefits, falsely claiming that the law strengthens “women’s care”:

“The Center for American Progress will announce today that the events – with such sponsors as AFSCME, SEIU and U.S. PIRG — include ‘small business roundtables/workshops, seniors’ town hall meetings, young adult information sessions, press conferences with Members of Congress and Administration officials … An online campaign featuring videos of real Americans benefitting from the law will complement the grassroots activities. … [T]argeted radio advertising … and social-media advertising … will also be launched…’

“–EVENT THEMES: Thursday, “Moving Forward, Protecting Women’s Care“(Mike Allen, “Health Reform Turns 1: White House Allies Plan Week-Long Blitz, ‘Moving Forward'”, Politico Playbook, 3/17/2011)

The reality, however, is that ObamaCare continues to be a disaster for women’s health and, as the primary consumers of healthcare in America, women know this firsthand. A new CNN poll out Wednesday offers the latest proof of this, showing that 60 percent of women oppose the healthcare law:

WOMEN ARE PRIMARY CONSUMERS, DECISION-MAKERS ON HEALTHCARE:“Women utilize more health care than men, in part because of their need for reproductive services. Females of all ages accounted for 60% of all expenses incurred at doctors’ offices in 2004.

“Women make approximately 80 percent of health care decisions for their families and are more likely to be the care givers when a family member falls ill.”(“General Facts on Women and Job Based Health,” U.S. Department of Labor, Accessed 3/23/2011)

60 PERCENT OF WOMEN OPPOSE OBAMACARE, with only 35 percent in support. (CNN Opinion Research Poll, 3/23/2011)

It’s not hard to see why, given that the law is increasing premiums, reducing healthcare choices for women and families and generally reducing the quality of care.

In the first year of its implementation, ObamaCare has already induced increases in premiums and failed to abate rising healthcare costs, creating challenges for women who often oversee healthcare expenses for their households:

FAMILY INSURANCE PREMIUMS SPIKE POST-OBAMACARE: “As employers struggle with rising healthcare costs and a sour economy, U.S. workers for the first time in at least a decade are being asked to shoulder the entire increase in the cost of health benefits on their own.

“The average worker with a family plan was hit with 14% premium increase this year, pushing the bill to nearly $4,000 a year, according to a survey by the nonprofit Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research and Educational Trust.

“That is the largest annual increase since the survey began in 1999 and a marked change from previous years, when employers generally split the rise in the cost of premiums with their employees.” (Noam N. Levey, “U.S. Employers Push Increase In Cost of Healthcare Onto Workers,” Los Angeles Times, 9/2/2010)

PREMIUM HIKES “A DIRECT RESULT” OF OBAMACARE: “Health insurers say they plan to raise premiums for some Americans as a direct result of the health overhaul in coming weeks, complicating Democrats’ efforts to trumpet their signature achievement before the midterm elections.” (Janet Adamy, “Health Insurers Pin Rate Hikes on Health Law,” The Wall Street Journal, 9/7/2010)

Women will also be facing another problem: finding a doctor. ObamaCare is worsening the nation’s shortage of doctors, increasing wait times and decreasing the quality of care as a result:

OBAMACARE TO WORSEN DOCTOR SHORTAGE BY 50 PERCENT: “The U.S. healthcare reform law will worsen a shortage of physicians as millions of newly insured patients seek care, the Association of American Medical Colleges said on Thursday.

“The group’s Center for Workforce Studies released new estimates that showed shortages would be 50 percent worse in 2015 than forecast.

” ‘While previous projections showed a baseline shortage of 39,600 doctors in 2015, current estimates bring that number closer to 63,000, with a worsening of shortages through 2025,’ the group said in a statement.” (Peter Cooney, “Health Reform To Worsen Doctor Shortage: Group,” Reuters, 9/30/2010)

EMERGENCY ROOM WAIT TIMES TO INCREASE AS A RESULT: “The new healthcare law will pack 32 million newly insured people into emergency rooms already crammed beyond capacity, according to experts on healthcare facilities…

” ‘Everybody expected that one of the initial impacts of reform would be less pressure on emergency departments; it’s going to be exactly the opposite over the next four to eight years,’ said Rich Dallam, a healthcare partner at the architectural firm NBBJ, which designs healthcare facilities.

” ‘We don’t have the primary care infrastructure in place in America to cover the need. Our clients are looking at and preparing for more emergency department volume, not less,’ he said.” (Jay Heflin, “Health Reform Threatens to Cram Already Overwhelmed Emergency Rooms,” The Hill, 5/15/2010)

Women won’t just face fewer choices among doctors as a result of the law—many have already been forced to change insurance policies, as small insurers collapse due to how ObamaCare tilts the playing field in favor of big insurance companies. Meanwhile, many employers are expected to discontinue providing insurance, forcing women and families into government-run insurance plans with less choice:

CONSUMERS FORCED TO CHANGE INSURANCE POLICIES: “The Principal Financial Group announced on Thursday that it planned to stop selling health insurance, another sign of upheaval emerging among insurers as the new federal health law starts to take effect.

“The company, based in Iowa, provides coverage to about 840,000 people who receive their insurance through an employer.” (Reed Abelson, “Insurer Cuts Health Plans as New Law Takes Hold,” The New York Times, 9/30/2010)

14 MILLION AMERICANS TO LOSE EMPLOYER-BASED COVERAGE PLANS: “By 2019, 164.5 million people will be enrolled in employer plans when the law is fully implemented. That compares with 165.9 million people, or 1.4 million more, than if health care reform had not become law, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Office of the Actuary. Currently, about 163.8 million people are enrolled in employer-provided plans. The analysis was requested by congressional Republicans and was released Friday by Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., ranking member of the House Education and Labor Committee…

“[A]bout 14 million people will lose employer-provided coverage due to a variety of reasons, including more low-wage workers moving to an expanded Medicaid program and some employers, especially smaller companies and those with low average salaries, being “inclined to terminate” coverage, the report said.” (Jerry Geisel, “Health Care Reform Law to Reduce Employer Coverage: Analysis,” Business Insurance, 4/23/2010)

ObamaCare will also make it more difficult for women to obtain child-only insurance policies if their employers do not cover dependents, since many insurers are no longer selling these policies or being forced out of business, both as a result of the healthcare law:

BIG INSURERS DROPPING CHILD-ONLY POLICIES: “Tens of thousands of Texas children will be directly affected by the 11th-hour decision of a number of major health insurance companies to stop selling child-only policies rather than comply with the new federal law that requires they cover youngsters with pre-existing conditions.

“All insurance companies starting today will accept children in family plans regardless of medical history, but Texas insurers United Healthcare, Aetna Inc. and Cigna Inc. are among the ones that will no longer offer policies just for individuals under 19.

“Such plans have grown in popularity in recent years as employee-based policies have cut coverage of dependents.” (Todd Ackerman, “New Healthcare Law Kicks in Today: Insurers Pulling the Plug for Thousands of Texas Children,” The Houston Chronicle, 9/23/2010)

SMALL INSURERS CAN’T OFFER THEM BECAUSE OBAMACARE IS FORCING THEM OUT OF BUSINESS: “Principal’s decision closely tracks moves by other insurers that have indicated in recent weeks that they plan to drop out of certain segments of the market, like the business of selling child-only policies. State regulators say some insurance companies are already threatening to leave particular markets because of the new law….

” ‘It’s just going to drive the little guys out,’ said Robert Laszewski, a health policy consultant in Alexandria, Va. Smaller players like Principal in states like Iowa, Missouri and elsewhere will not be able to compete because they do not have the resources and economies of scale of players like UnitedHealth, which is among the nation’s largest health insurers.

“Mr. Laszewski is worried that the ensuing concentration is likely to lead to higher prices because large players will no longer face the competition from the smaller plans. ‘It’s just the UnitedHealthcare full employment act,’ he said.”(Reed Abelson, “Insurer Cuts Health Plans as New Law Takes Hold,” The New York Times, 9/30/2010)