What's Next for Women's Health Services?

The recent presidential debates and presidential election have sparked debates nationwide on the future of Obamacare. This post does not reflect my political views or designed to address them, but instead highlight the Obamacare changes I have seen enacted into everyday medical practice.  Since August 2012, one overarching theme persists throughout medical offices in the Philadelphia area: preventive women’s health service. Listed below are the preventive services provided to women under Obamacare.

 

1. Annual well-women visit (including mammograms and colonoscopies)
2. Screening for gestational diabetes
3. Testing for HPV
4. Counseling for STDs
5. Counseling and screening for HIV
6. Contraceptive methods and counseling
7. Breastfeeding support, supplies and counseling
8. Screening and counseling for domestic and interpersonal violence

 

Last year, 6 million mammograms were provided by Medicare. Those same efforts are present in   the Philadelphia area. In the Drexel Internal Medicine outpatient office, the provider always checked and routinely prescribed mammograms for all of her female patients over the age of 40.  While on radiology, the mammography reading room was always busy reading endless screening mammograms. The services provided by Obamacare’s preventive women’s health care services has brought routine screening to fruition for female patients of all socioeconomic backgrounds.

 

At the adolescent health clinic at St. Christopher’s hospital, providers can screen all adolescent patients for STDs and domestic or interpersonal violence and provide contraceptive methods and counseling free of charge. While I only attended a few sessions at the adolescent clinic, I witnessed endless services provided to adolescents due to the preventative focus of Obamacare.  A 20 year old female was able to receive free STD screening and treatment for herself and her partner.

 

Although the fate of Obamacare remains unknown, the healthcare message should remain the same: Affordable Access to Preventive Services for Women.

 

http://obamacarefacts.com/obamacare-womens-health-services/

                                                                                                                                       Mary Sims  DUCOM 2017