Starting Today: Changes in Your Access to Health Care

Wondering when and how health care reform is going to start affecting your life? The answer is today! Today is the day that the first provisions of health care reform will go into effect. It is an exciting day for men and women, and a huge advancement for access to reproductive health care in the US!

Under the Affordable Care Act, you can stay on your parents' insurance until age 26 or until you find a job that offers insurance. This initiative will help young people stay safe and healthy, and will help make sure that college students won't be left uninsured after graduation.

The Affordable Care Act will also end a number of insurance company abuses including pre-existing condition exclusions for children aged 19 and younger. No longer can an insurance company deny coverage of chemo-therapy for a child with cancer simply because the cancer was diagnosed before getting insurance.

Also beginning this month is the Illinois Pre-Existing Insurance Plan (IPXP). This initiative is an extraordinary measure to reduce the number of uninsured citizens with pre-existing conditions. The IPXP will cover a huge range of health care benefits for the people who need it most. We couldn't be more excited!

Although the Health Care Reform Act is a huge step closer to providing health care to all those who need it, there is still a long way to go. Have you had issues with health care coverage? Planned Parenthood Illinois Action wants to hear about it. If you have a story about your personal struggle in seeking health care insurance, go to our Facebook page and share it! We want our readers to know that acquisition of health care coverage is a REAL issue that REAL women like you and me have to deal with every day.

Watch this video from Planned Parenthood to learn how health care reform advances women's health care.



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