We believe everyone, no matter where they live or how much money they have, should have access to basic health care.

Before the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, millions of women were denied coverage because of so-called “pre-existing conditions” like breast cancer, pregnancy, or domestic abuse; some were forced to pay more for insurance just because they were women; and some were only allowed limited plans that excluded coverage of their primary health concerns. 

The ACA has revolutionized American’s access to family planning health services. More than 9.5 million women nationally have gained coverage under the ACA since 2014. Thanks to the ACA, insurance plans are now required to cover women’s preventive care—like birth control, well-woman visits and breast and cervical cancer screenings—without copays. Thanks, Obama!

What is the health care law?

The ACA has made health insurance accessible and affordable for millions of people.

The law includes important benefits for all Americans:

• People can stay on their parents’ health insurance plan until age 26.
• Insurers can no longer deny people coverage if they have a pre-existing condition.
• Women can get birth control and other preventive care, like cancer screenings, for free, with no copay.

NOTE: A group of Republican Attorneys General have again challenged the constitutionality of the ACA. The case to overturn the ACA is currently before the U.S. Supreme Court, with a ruling expected in late spring 2021.

Minnesota

The ACA is the biggest advancement in women’s health care in decades. Since the passage of the ACA, more Americans than ever have health insurance and the uninsured rate in Minnesota has been cut nearly in half. Even though the number of uninsured Minnesotans has recently begun to slightly increase, thanks to the ACA, 200,000 Minnesotans—including 35,000 children—have gained health insurance coverage.

Under the ACA, Minnesota was able to expand eligibility for Medical Assistance and preserve MinnesotaCare, giving more low-income earning individuals the ability to get insured. It also required insurance plans to cover preventive care, including all forms of birth control, at no out-of-pocket cost.

What’s going to happen to Obamacare?

2017 brought  multiple attempts in Congress to repeal the ACA, along with the Trump Administration’s efforts to sabotage the law. In 2018, a group of Republican governors and state attorneys general filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the entire ACA. That lawsuit is currently in front of the Supreme Court, with a ruling expected in late spring 2021.

But guess what? Because of Planned Parenthood patients and supporters hit the streets, called their representatives, and held townhalls over the last few years, the ACA is still the law of the land. Planned Parenthood’s team of skilled enrollment specialists, called Navigators, are available to help patients access and enroll in health insurance.
 

Planned Parenthood is here for good.

Planned Parenthood’s health center doors are open to everyone—regardless of insurance status. For more than 100 years, Planned Parenthood health centers have been providing expert reproductive and sexual health care, and that's not going to change.