To the editor:
In today's recovering economy, when many of us are concerned about job security or paying the mortgage, the health care law helps us feel secure in knowing that getting sick does not mean that we'll lose our health coverage when we need it the most. Thanks to the new law, health insurance companies are no longer allowed to cancel coverage when we get sick.
As we await the Supreme Court's decision on the future of the health care law, it's important to move beyond politics and focus on those who are benefiting from it today and the millions more who will benefit as new provisions are rolled out. For example, insurance companies can no longer deny coverage to children with pre-existing conditions. Later this year, millions more women will have access to well-woman exams and birth control without a co-pay, and all health plans will have to include maternity care. Young adults are able to remain on their parents' insurance until age 26 - a boon to those struggling to find work.
And those are just the benefits in place now. The new law also stops insurance companies from charging women higher premiums than men. A new competitive health marketplace will be available for individuals to compare and shop for new health plans if they need to do so.
President Barack Obama's health care law is working. Don't let opponents of the law roll back the important progress that's in it for women and our families.
Deborah Vandeborne
Steubenville
