The U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding the Affordable Care Act will have“profound and concrete impact” on millions of people’s lives, Planned Parenthood of Illinois stated. Calling the Affordable Care Act “the greatest advance in women’s health in a generation,” Planned Parenthood of Illinois said the law will provide access to birth control and cancer screenings without co-pays, guaranteed direct access to OB/GYN providers without referrals, and an end to discriminatory practices against women, such as charging women higher premiums and denying coverage for “pre-existing conditions.”
Specifically, Planned Parenthood of Illinois pointed to key benefits of the Affordable Care Act that will have an impact on millions of American’s lives:

• More than 45 million women nationwide have already received coverage for preventive health screenings at no cost since August 2010 thanks to the Affordable Care Act – including mammograms and Pap tests – and millions more will be able to get free screenings in the coming years.
• 3.1 million young adults nationwide have already been able to stay on their parents’ insurance because of the Affordable Care Act. In the next year, millions more who would have otherwise lost coverage will continue to be insured under their parents’ plan.
• Starting in August, birth control will be treated like any other preventive prescription under the Affordable Care Act, and will be available without co-pays or deductibles.

As a result of the Affordable Care Act, 17 million women nationwide will be newly insured, including 469,469 women in Illinois.