Health Care Equity

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 (aka 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 for any health concerns they already had. In North Dakota women were charged as much as 25 percent more than men for the same coverage.

Under the ACA, women can get birth control and other preventative care, like cancer screenings, for free.

In fact, “Obamacare” includes important benefits for all Americans:

• You can stay on your parents’ health insurance plan until age 26.
• Insurers can no longer deny you coverage if you have a pre-existing condition.

Under the ACA, many people who were unable to pay for their health coverage were able to become insured. In fact, the number of uninsured residents in North Dakota declined 25 percent thanks to the Affordable Care Act.

The Affordable Care Act is still in effect, although multiple attacks were launched against the ACA by Congress; the American Health Care Act,  the Better Care Reconciliation Act and the Skinny Repeal of the ACA were defeated. Because of these triumphant defeats, people all across the USA were able to keep their coverage and continue to easily access affordable care and contraceptives at Planned Parenthood health centers.

In North Dakota, a repeal of the Affordable Care Act would mean:

• A loss of $3 billion in federal funding for Medicaid, CHIP, and financial assistance for marketplace coverage.
• Approximately 18,000 North Dakotans who currently get financial assistance to help pay for their health coverage will lose this help and will no longer have affordable coverage options.
• An end to North Dakota’s Medicaid expansion.
• North Dakotans with private health insurance will be stripped of vital protections against discrimination.
• Approximately 276,000 North Dakotans with pre-existing conditions like asthma, diabetes, and cancer could once again be denied affordable, comprehensive coverage that actually covers their health care needs.
• Hundreds of thousands of North Dakotans will lose guaranteed coverage of free preventive services, like recommended cancer screenings and vaccines
• Thousands of seniors and people with disabilities will lose comprehensive drug coverage

Planned Parenthood health center doors are open to everyone — whether a patient has insurance or not. Anyone can come to Planned Parenthood for the expert, quality care they need, when they need it — with or without insurance. For over 30 years, our Planned Parenthood health center in Moorhead, MN has provided care for North Dakotans. And for 100 years, Planned Parenthood has been providing expert reproductive and sexual health care across the country. That’s not changing.