Yesterday’s ruling on the Affordable Care Act was a “supreme win for women,” as our story by Jessica Arons, the director of the Women’s Health and Rights Program at the Center for American Progress, helpfully explains.

Here’s the deal:

• As of 2014, “gender rating”—where insurers can charge women higher premiums than men—becomes illegal in all new individual and small group plans.

• Currently only 12 percent of plans sold in the individual market offer maternity coverage. Once the Affordable Care Act is fully implemented, about 8.7 million women will have guaranteed access to maternity and newborn care in all new individual and small group plans.

• It’s common in today’s market for insurers to refuse to cover women because of gender-based “preexisting conditions.” These conditions can include issues such as having had breast cancer or a Caesarean section or having been a victim of domestic violence or sexual assault. This practice, too, will be outlawed under Obamacare in 2014.

• Under Obamacare, insurers are now required to cover critical preventive services such as mammograms, Pap smears, and well-baby care without cost sharing.

• In addition, starting this August, more services specifically for women will be added to the list of preventive care that must be covered at no additional cost. That list includes contraception, gestational diabetes screening, breastfeeding counseling and equipment, annual well-woman care (in other words, a visit to the OB-GYN), and screening and counseling for domestic violence and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV and the human papillomavirus.

• Other benefits for women include the ability to see their OB-GYN without a referral, guaranteed breaks and a private space for nursing moms to pump breast milk while at work, and home visiting programs for at-risk new mothers.

Pretty wild, right?  There’s more.

[Edit: If you’re reading this out of the dashboard, it looks weird. Sorry!]

This is genius.

cheatsheet:

Annndd we’re live! Our panelists are making their predictions now. Have a question for them? You can leave them here and we’ll pass them on. 

Your tumblr is hiding just behind the cameras. Ask us a question! We’ll give you a shout-out on air.

These are just a few of the people who could get the shaft if the Supreme Court axes the Affordable Care Act:

1. Debt-Strangled Young 20-Somethings
2. People Who Are Bad at Paperwork
3. Southerners
4. Fans of Non-Procreative Sex
5. Insurance Companies

So we’re screwed a few times over, huh. Great!

“The Life of Julia” is pretty much a slam-dunk for the Obama communications campaign.

barackobama:

Another reason to like Obamacare.

The Obama campaign is pushing hard this week—on tumblr and twitter—to win hearts and minds in advance of what now sort-of-kind-of appears to possibly be a Supreme Court ruling against the President’s individual mandate clause.

We’ve got MIT economist Jonathan Gruber stopping by for a live chat on the site today at 1 pm ET. He’s the guy who helped Mitt Romney draft Romneycare in Massachusetts, so should be a pretty good opportunity to figure out what the heck has been going on at the high court these last two days. Chat here at 1pm ET.

markcoatney:

(via frangry)

There are better, more substantive takes on tonight to come, but for now, pls. enjoy one Nwk alum’s analysis…