Guest post by Ann Danforth, Progressive States Advocacy and Policy Manager at Raising Women’s Voices-NY. A recent analysis by the Commonwealth Fund confirms what many women already know — the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has dramatically improved our rates of health coverage and our access to care. The Commonwealth Fund used data from its biennial health insurance surveys to compare women’s health coverage and health care experiences before and after the ACA, and the results make one thing clear: the ACA is working.

The uninsured rate for women in the U.S. is at an all-time low

Thanks to the ACA, the number of uninsured working-age women fell by almost half from 2010-2016, dropping from 20% (19 million) in 2010 to 11% (11 million) in 2016. Low-income women across all races and ethnicities made the greatest gains, while young women ages 19-36 made larger gains in coverage than women in other age groups. After the ACA went into effect, the percent of women reporting difficulty finding an affordable health plan that meets their needs fell by nearly half, the Commonwealth Fund found.

Women in states that expanded Medicaid under the ACA, like New York, have higher rates of insurance than women in states that chose not to expand Medicaid. As you can see in the graph below, the rates of uninsurance among women here in New York, a state that fully embraced Medicaid expansion, are five times lower than for women in Texas, a state that did not expand Medicaid. Women in New York have expanded coverage options, since our state was the first in the country to establish a Basic Health plan called the Essential Plan, as permitted under the ACA. This extremely affordable coverage option for low-income New Yorkers, which HCFANY and RWV-NY successfully advocated for, went into effect in early 2016. As of January 2017, 665,324 New Yorkers have enrolled in New York’s Essential Plan, 54% of whom are women.

ACA consumer protections and subsidies improve access to care

The ACA put in place requirements that insurers cover 10 Essential Health Benefits, including maternity and newborn care, as well as preventive services. Under this requirement, insurers must cover a number of women’s preventive services with no cost-sharing, like contraceptive coverage, cervical cancer screenings and well-woman visits.  Although New York had contraceptive coverage requirements prior to the ACA, the ACA expanded them by prohibiting insurers from charging women co-pays for contraceptive coverage and counseling.

These consumer protections, along with the ACA’s health insurance subsidies, have made it easier for women to find affordable health plans that cover their needs.

New York builds on the ACA’s success by protecting and expanding key provisions of the ACA that impact women

 The Cuomo Administration, responding to requests from RWV-NY and other women’s advocacy groups, recently finalized regulations to keep in place the ACA’s contraceptive coverage protections, even if the ACA is repealed. These regulations require coverage without co-pays for one type of contraception in each of the 18 FDA-approved categories (the federal ACA standard) and allow for the dispensing of 12 months of contraception after an initial three-month allotment.

More recently, the Cuomo Administration proposed a rule that would require insurance carriers offering health plans in New York’s individual and small group market to continue to cover the ACA’s 10 Essential Health Benefits, regardless of what happens at the federal level. The proposed rule also includes a non-discrimination provision, which includes discrimination based on race, color, creed, national origin, sex (including sex stereotyping and gender identity), age, marital status, disability and preexisting conditions. RWV-NY has joined other members of the Health Care for All NY coalition in praising these proposed measures, while urging the addition of sexual orientation to the non-discrimination policy.

 There is still more work to do!

The Commonwealth Fund report adds to overwhelming evidence that the ACA is working for women here in New York and nationwide. But the survey results suggest there is still work to do to make health care more accessible and affordable for women. In the U.S., there are almost 11 million working-age women who are still uninsured and large proportions of women who find it difficult to afford comprehensive health plans. As the ACA faces new challenges, including a hostile Administration that aims to “let Obamacare fail,” it is critical that we inform the public about the ACA’s successes while continuing to advocate for affordable and quality health care for all.