How Women Get More Than Men Do From Obamacare
Women are more likely to have mental health diagnoses, more likely to be unable to afford healthcare, and more likely to experience healthcare-related "marriage lock."
OLGA KHAZANFEB 11 2014, 11:00 AM ET
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Some of the benefits are well-known: Private insurance is now required to cover birth control free of charge. And health insurers can no longer discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions by charging them extra. Such “conditions,” in extreme cases in the past, have included pregnancy and being the victim of spousal abuse.
But there are other, hidden ways women benefit from Obamacare:
1. Women are more likely to skimp on healthcare
Because women earn less than men, and women are more likely to live in poverty than men, they are also more likely to say that they or a family member had to postpone various types of medical treatment because of financial issues.
The ACA's subsidies might help women in particular because they also tend to go to doctors more: They live longer, have reproductive needs, and often manage the health of their children and aging parents in addition to their own, according to Alina Salganicoff, the director of women’s health at the Kaiser Family Foundation.
2. Women are more likely to have the mental health issues that Obamacare covers. Other than substance abuse, nearly every type of common mental health problem is more prevalent in women than in men:
Read More: http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/02/how-women-get-more-than-men-do-from-obamacare/283728/