Victory for Women and Families today as Supreme Court rules to uphold the Affordable Care Act!

Because of today’s ruling upholding the Affordable Care Act, millions of women will have access to preventive health care with no co-pay, including cancer screenings, mammograms, prenatal care and birth control, starting in August 2012 – protecting their health and saving them money.

Access to birth control isn’t a political or social issue – it’s basic health care and an economic concern for millions of women. Women spend up to $600 a year on birth control, and through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) it will now be fully covered. In addition, 6.6 million young adults have already been able to stay on their parents’ insurance because of ACA. In the next year, millions more who would have otherwise lost coverage will continue to be insured under their parents’ plan.

In California, nearly 5 million Californians will gain coverage through the ACA! The number of California women newly eligible for Medicaid in 2014 will amount to 1,485,743 women and 928,590 women in CA will be eligible for tax credits to purchase coverage through the Exchange.  

This Supreme Court decision upholding the ACA means that millions of women will have access to affordable, quality health care – many of whom had no coverage or inadequate coverage before. More than 45 million women have already received coverage for preventive health screenings at no cost since August 2010 – including mammograms and cancer screenings – and millions more will be able to get free screenings in the coming years because this law will remain intact.

Even before the enactment of the ACA, California has lead the nation in providing access to preventive and reproductive health care. Since 1997, the Family PACT program has offered no-cost family planning services to low-income women and men. Women have been guaranteed direct access to OB/GYN providers without first needing a referral.  California passed a law in 1998 to provide women with direct access to OB/GYNs.

Planned Parenthood knows firsthand how important this law – and this decision – is for women and families, because we see the need for affordable health care every day. Planned Parenthood health centers have been serving patients with private insurance for decades, and the more than 100 Planned Parenthood health centers in California will be here for newly insured women who want quality health care from a provider they can trust. One in five women rely on Planned Parenthood at some point in their lives - 97% of the services Planned Parenthood health centers provides is preventive health care including cancer screenings, STD testing and treatment, and birth control.

While we’re glad the Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act, the real credit for this breakthrough for women’s health belongs to those who passed it. The Affordable Care Act marks the biggest advance for women’s health in a generation, and we thank President Obama for this leadership on this issue. Thank you also to our US Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein who stood with Planned Parenthood and women in championing the ACA!

Learn about how the Affordable Care Act will impact health care in California and read more at HealthCare.gov.