Category: Women’s Health Policy

This factsheet reviews major sources of coverage for women residing in the U.S. in 2019, discusses the impact of the ACA on women’s coverage, and the coverage challenges that many women continue to face

In this column for the JAMA Health Forum, Larry Levitt explores what President-elect Biden might do to advance his health care vision both through legislation and through executive orders and waivers and demonstrations.

With President-elect Joe Biden and a new Congress taking office next month, newly updated KFF briefs examine two women’s health policy issues awaiting federal policymakers in 2021. President-elect Biden campaigned on reversing the Trump Administration’s regulations for the Title X family planning program, which require complete financial and physical separation from abortion services, including referrals,…More

This issue brief presented in a narrative story map reviews the impact the Trump Administration regulations have had on the Title X network and discusses the likely impact and limitations of the Biden Administration’s potential actions.

The bills in this table address a number of related maternity care issues, including extending Medicaid postpartum coverage from 60 days to one year, funding for clinical training on health equity and implicit bias, developing broader networks of maternity care providers in rural areas, and research on the potential benefits of Medicaid coverage for doula care.

This brief discusses Medicaid’s eligibility for pregnancy and postpartum care, gaps in coverage particularly in states that have not expanded Medicaid under the ACA, and several state and federal efforts to extend postpartum coverage to more women for a longer period of time.

This fact sheet summarizes state and local policies on paid family and sick leave and presents data from the KFF Employer Health Benefits Surveys on the share of firms that offer workers these benefits.

As the COVID-19 pandemic grows, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other public health officials recommend that people who are sick should stay home. Benefits such as sick leave and family leave can help employees follow these guidelines; however, the U.S. does not have national standards on paid family or sick leave. The lack of a national policy means some employees are forced to take unpaid leave, or come to work when they are ill, which could have public health consequences.

This brief outlines the potential health policy actions that President Biden could take using executive authority, based on campaign pledges, and actions that would reverse or modify regulations or guidance issued by the Trump Administration.

A new KFF survey of obstetrician-gynecologists (OBGYNs) offers insight into how the coronavirus pandemic has affected the provision of sexual and reproductive health care, including the growth of telehealth and the ongoing challenges and limitations of such medical visits. Key findings from the survey, which was conducted from July to September 2020, include: The majority…More

From a nationally representative sample of 855 office-based U.S. OBGYNs, this brief shows how OBGYNs have adapted their provision of sexual and reproductive health care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many OBGYNs have rapidly adopted telehealth, but not without challenges.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires new private health insurance plans to cover many recommended preventive services without any patient cost-sharing. This tracker presents up-to-date information on the adult preventive services nongrandfathered private plans must cover, by condition, including a summary of the recommendation, the target population, the effective date of coverage, and related federal coverage clarifications.

This brief examines what the loss of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) would mean for women’s coverage and access to health care.

As the 2020 Election Day approaches, many candidates continue to focus on health care issues, including on the public health and economic response to COVID-19, the future of the Affordable Care Act, health care costs and abortion. To help reporters understand and cover these issues, KFF offers independent, non-partisan policy analysis, polling and other research and…More

In an Axios column, Drew Altman discusses how this election year health isn’t a single issue — but several — and Joe Biden has the edge over President Trump on all of them, even as opposition to the ACA remains popular with Trump’s base.  

A new KFF issue brief examines the implications of a Supreme Court with a solid conservative majority. Two abortion cases have pending requests for Supreme Court review: Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization and FDA v. ACOG. If the Court chooses to take these cases, abortion laws and who can legally challenge them could be…More

This brief examines the implications of a Supreme Court with a solid conservative majority for two abortion cases which have pending requests for review. If the Court chooses to take these cases, abortion laws and who can legally challenge them could be affected in major ways.

U.S. Supreme Court decisions shape health policy in important ways. The nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett, if confirmed, is expected to establish a solid 6:3 conservative majority that could affect case outcomes in several areas. This issue brief considers the potential implications of a reconfigured Court for health policy issues, including those already on the Court’s docket for the coming term and those that the Court may choose to consider in this term or in the future.

This side-by-side comparison examines President Trump’s record and former Vice President Biden’s positions across a wide range of key health issues, including the response to the pandemic, the Affordable Care Act marketplace, Medicaid, Medicare, drug prices, reproductive health, mental health and opioids, immigration and health coverage, and health care costs.

In an article for Contraception X, KFF’s Brittni Frederiksen, Matthew Rae, and Alina Salganicoff examine large employer plans to identify which types and brands of oral contraceptive pills have the largest shares of oral contraceptive users with out-of-pocket spending and which oral contraceptives have the highest average annual out-of-pocket costs after the ACA covered contraception under it’s preventive services provisions.

This data note presents an interactive map that tracks which states have made declarations defining abortions as non-essential or elective health procedures and effectively blocking the provision of abortion services during the outbreak.