Dear Friends,

You might have already heard that this is National Women’s Health Week.  I love all the high level attention being given to women’s health this week.  The President issued a proclamation, the First Lady wrote an article about how she’s tried to incorporate health-promoting habits into her daily routine, and the government is partnering with community groups and businesses hosting thousands of events to promote women’s health.  That’s all good – after all, NWHN believes that health is a public matter, and that public attention to the right things can make us all healthier.

But women’s health is also a medical matter, too, and when it comes to medical care, we can’t get far without coverage for our care.  Historically, it’s been tough for women to get good coverage.  Women’s health preventive services were considered lifestyle issues, not medical care.  Coverage for prenatal care and childbirth was left out of many policies.  And too many women found that their coverage wasn’t there when they needed it – they were denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions, or told that their conditions were too expensive and the policy didn’t cover them.

But now there’s some good news for women – news that makes National Women’s Health Week more than just proclamations and useful information.  The good news is in the details of the Affordable Care Act.  That’s right, the new health law has quite a few provisions that are good for women.   

Here’s just one example.  Part of this year’s women’s health week is something called National Women’s Check-up Day.  Did you know that starting August 1st, the new health law is going make sure that women’s well-woman exams are covered with no co-payment, just like our kids get well-baby exams with no copayment?  And that mammograms and pap smears are already covered with no extra charges for women?  That makes scheduling the check-up seem a little bit easier, doesn’t it?  

In fact, there are so many good services for women included in the new health law that we’ve created a website to help women find out what they’re going to get and when.  Check it out at www.countdowntocoverage.org.  That way, you can enjoy this week and start counting down to when you’ll get even more services covered.  


Thank you,


Cindy Pearson
Executive Director

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