A women’s health group kicked off its statewide tour in Madison on Tuesday, from which they will be traveling to several cities throughout the week to educate Wisconsin women about the implications of the Affordable Care Act.
Wisconsin Alliance for Women’s Health is making the trip because March 23 marks the two-year anniversary of President Barack Obama passing the act.
After their night in Madison, WAWH will make stops in La Crosse, Eau Claire, Oshkosh and Wausau. Dozens of people attended the Tuesday event, including former Sen. Russ Feingold.
WAWH Executive Director Sara Finger said the group partnered with several other groups for the statewide tour, including National Women’s Law Center, Office of Women’s Health and Raising Women’s Voices.
“We believe that it is incredibly important that women in Wisconsin recognize the incredible victory for women’s health that is the Affordable Care Act,” Finger said. “Because we know that health reform is a complex and intimidating issue, we are dedicated to helping Wisconsin women make sense of the law.”
In the two years since the law was signed, Finger said 413,000 women in Wisconsin received preventive care screenings without co-pay and 791,000 women were protected from hitting a lifetime limit on coverage.
The new law also stops insurance companies from denying women coverage because of pre-existing conditions, such as having had a C-section or having survived domestic violence. Insurers are also not allowed to charge women more for the same insurance.
According to Finger, public opinion research shows that many are still confused about health care reform, but when they learn about the health care services and consumer protections it gives, they tend to favor it.
A packaged report was provided at the event to inform the public about the details of the act.
WAWH member Sarah Eskrich, who helped put together the report, said in 2010, 45 million women across the U.S. reported that because of the cost, they either did not fill a prescription, skipped a recommended test, did not go to the doctor when they had a problem or did not see a specialist when is it was needed.
The report said as of January 2012, Gov. Scott Walker has halted the implementation of the act in the Wisconsin and blocked nearly $50 million in federal funds to develop an exchange system for the state.
If the state does not choose to implement an exchange by January 2013, the federal government will facilitate Wisconsin’s exchange, according to the report.
In a statement from Walker’s office following his decision to block the funds in January, Walker said Wisconsin has been a leader and innovator in health care reform for two decades, and the state has achieved a high level of health insurance coverage without federal mandates.
Walker is not the only Wisconsin Republican against the act. U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Janesville, cited a report he requested from the Congressional Budget Office last Thursday that found three to five million Americans will be pushed out of their employer-provided health insurance each year from 2019 through 2022.
Ryan said the act is a “empty promise” and more advanced bipartisan solutions to the nation’s health care problems should be pursued once the act is repealed.
