Women-friendly exchanges: Strategies that work

The Affordable Care Act created pathways to affordable health insurance for millions who are currently uninsured. However, in order to get coverage, individuals have to engage with the new health insurance marketplaces (state exchanges). We want to see these exchanges offer health plans that are affordable to women, cover the health services women need (including comprehensive reproductive care), include sufficient numbers of reproductive health providers in their plan networks, adopt non-discrimination policies and actively work to reduce health disparities. We want to make sure these exchanges conduct active outreach to underserved women and make the enrollment and eligibility process as user-friendly as possible. This presentation will review a variety of strategies used by activists working in reform-friendly states, as well as states that have resisted implementation of health reform. Strategies to be discussed include an analysis of how key ACA implementation issues at the state level can be viewed from the women's health perspective; the development of model policies, including policies to support the unobtrusive implementation of the Nelson abortion payment segregation requirements; the development of a set of standards for operation of “women-friendly” exchanges to influence the extent to which a health exchange reaches out to, engages and ultimately serves diverse groups of women; and, grassroots organizing and mobilizing to engage women in the debate.