Last Thursday, the United States Supreme Court supported the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Health care reform is moving forward as the Supreme Court has upheld the statute, navigating it as a tax. In other words, those who are uninsured can either obtain health insurance or choose to pay a tax by 2014.
The ACA expands Medicaid eligibility or subsidizes private insurance. For women, this includes comprehensive maternity and well-woman care, prohibits gender rating and denying coverage on the basis of previous cesarean delivery, history of domestic violence or other pre-existing medical conditions. (Fortunately, Ohio already provides Medicaid for all pregnant women. Other states do not.)
There are many unknowns about health care reform, including how many people will choose insurance or pay the IRS. Dr. Atul Gawande, a staff writer at the The New Yorker, writes how social scientists and economists theorize of the change to come. I recommend it as a must read. He also brings humanism to the article.
“We are all born frail and mortal – and, over the course of our lives, we all need health care.” -Atul Gawande
Dr. Viv
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