The federal healthcare reform laws, which are formally known as the Affordable Care Act and have been termed “Obamacare” by opponents of the act, were signed by President Obama on March 23, 2010. That act set in motion a series of reforms, most of which will take place by 2014. Some of them have already gone into effect, and many of them have been challenged in court. As the nation’s need for medical care increases with an aging population, these reforms will have a large impact on how healthcare is administered in the U.S. It will affect the most basic care that nurse aides administer, as well as the advanced care of surgeons. Here is an update on where the federal healthcare reform laws stand. Continue reading
Intro to Addictions – The Plight of American Women
Addiction does not discriminate against age, race or even sex. Different types of people are affected by addiction each year. In the United States more and more women are finding themselves fighting a battle with addiction, more so than men.
Nationwide addiction statistics of Women:
- 21.5 million women smoke
- 4.5 million are alcoholics or alcohol abusers
- 3.5 million misuse prescription drugs
- 3.1 million report regularly using illicit drugs.
- Most female drug abusers use more than one drug
- 6.9 million women are needing but not receiving treatment
A Cause for Addiction
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Texas Attempts to Strip Planned Parenthood of Funding; What Now?
Planned Parenthood, (a nonprofit organization providing health care to nearly three million men and women nationwide), is in danger of losing its state and federal funding because of the strength of pro life political pressure.
In 2011, the Texas Attorney General issued an opinion excluding health care organizations offering abortion services from federal funding. Planned Parenthood appealed this decision and was granted a stay until a trial could be held, by Federal Judge Lee Yeakel earlier in 2012. On May 1, 2012, a federal judge reversed this ruling, though the stay was re-instated just days later by a three-judge panel, meaning the funding currently hangs in the balance. Continue reading
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Our Nurses: Unsung Heroes
National Nurses week just passed and we’re taking a moment to acknowledge the contribution of nurses of all types to our health care system. Nurses are frontline workers who deliver health care to all of those in need. We sometimes forget about their tireless contribution to keep us healthy and mend us when we’re broken. Here’s a neat little graphic on RNs in the US. Unfortunately, some just don’t get their dues.
Courtesy of MyNursingUniforms.
Posted in Musings
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What’s Wrong with this picture?
A prime example of how the religious right is completely out of touch with healthcare for women (which in all of the institutionalized religious orders women have yet to regain equal status as men).
Republicans will do anything to become the new opiate to the masses. Rather than worry about making the country great, they think about making rich people richer, and placate the religious right with bogus hearings like the Republican-led Congressional hearing pictured above. The issue? A hearing discussing the possibility of requiring religious institutions to cover contraceptives in their employee health insurance plans. As you’ll notice, not a single witness testifying is a woman. Continue reading
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Supreme Court to Hear ACA Challenge
The Supreme Court will hear a constitutional claim against the Affordable Care Act in 2012. Arguments will primarily focus on the law’s individual mandate requirement and accompanying penalties for noncompliance, but will also address the planned Medicaid expansion. The court decision, expected by June 2012, could have several different outcomes: the law is constitutional as it stands; the individual mandate is unconstitutional, but the rest of the law remains; or the individual mandate is unconstitutional and so integral to the ACA that the rest of the law crumbles. Alternatively, the court may decide it cannot make a determination until April 2015, when individuals will be first become subject to penalties for not having health insurance and the case becomes “ripe” enough to hear.
Raising Women’s Voices position is one of support for the benefits of the ACA.
More: http://www.raisingwomensvoices.net/raisingwomensvoices-blog/2011/11/15/health-care-reform-goes-to-the-supreme-court.html
Posted in Legislation
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Keep Family PLanning Accessible to All Women
Rather than only some.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stephanie-schriock/straight-talk-keep-family_b_1099381.html
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Protect the Healthcare Rights of Women in the 99%? How?
How can you protect healthcare and expand basic coverage for millions of women? Well, first off, if you live in the US you’re not in the 99%. Comparatively maybe you’re in the 99% within the US, but simply living here puts you at least in the top 5% in the world. Yes, that does ignore some very poor areas in the US where there’s more resemblance to Haiti, but when we compare to the world, we’re doing OK.
But we can do better. The point of OWS is the blatant disregard of unbridled capitalism. Capitalism isn’t wrong, but there’s unfortunately no maximum threshold to greed. 100 million is literally not enough if you can have 200 million.
What does that mean for healthcare? Continue reading
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Does Pelosi Get it Right?
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., issued the following news release pertaining to what she calls a “radical assault on women’s health”. Below are the Leader’s remarks. Continue reading
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Affordable Care Act Protecting Women
Having a baby? Perhaps by C-section? Have 10K sitting around for the hospital bill? Whether you do or don’t, the answer to whether you’d like to pay the 10k yourself is probably, ‘no’.
The Affordable Care Act, which became law last March, no longer permits insurance companies from imposing lifetime dollar limits on essential benefits such as hospital stays, nor can they deny coverage to any child under the age of 19 due to a preexisting condition. Continue reading
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