Tester Introduces Bill to Improve Affordable Care Act, Protect Women's Access to Health Care

Bill would ensure coverage for cancer screenings, birth control, domestic violence screenings & more

(U.S. Senate) – U.S. Senator Jon Tester has introduced new legislation to ensure coverage for preventive health care services, like breast cancer screenings, birth control, and domestic violence screenings, can’t be revised or rolled back by politicians.

“Without this bill, the Administration has the ability to take health care away from women and allow health insurance companies to charge women for basic preventive care,” said Tester. “This bill is an example of folks working together to strengthen the Affordable Care Act, and ensure that families in Montana and across this country have access to quality health care.”

The Affordable Care Act has helped make preventive care affordable and accessible to all Americans by requiring health plans to cover certain preventive services without any out-of-pocket expense to patients. Today, 55 million women nationwide have free access to birth control, cancer screening and counseling for domestic violence because of the Affordable Care Act.

The Save Women’s Preventive Care Act would codify these coverage requirements, preventing politicians from rolling back these guidelines and guaranteeing women across Montana can continue to afford and access these key services.

The following preventive services will be guaranteed by this bill:

• Lactation support and counseling 
• Screening and counseling for domestic violence 
• Screening for gestational diabetes
• HPV DNA testing 
• Counseling on STIs
• Counseling and screening for HIV 
• All contraception methods approved by the FDA 
• Breast cancer screening 
• Well Woman visits

This bill is also sponsored by Senators Patty Murray (D-WA) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), along with 44 other Senators.