Welcome to the inaugural issue of OWH Insights by the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office on Women’s Health (OWH). OWH Insights provides quarterly information about policies, programs, initiatives, and events related to the health of our nation’s women and girls. Our hope is that this newsletter will help you gain a better understanding of OWH’s activities. We will also share relevant information affecting the field of women’s health.
In this issue of OWH Insights, we highlight recent activities that promoted women’s health around topics like caregiving, healthy aging, and the future of research.
Learn about:
We want to hear from you! Let us know what you think aboutOWH Insights and how we can serve you better. Send feedback to womenshealth@hhs.gov.
Enjoy!
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Nancy C. Lee, M.D.
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health-Women's Health
Director, Office on Women's Health
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health-Women's Health
Director, Office on Women's Health
Women's Health Highlights
FAQs Issued to Clarify Provisions of the ACA Related to Women’s Health
This summer, the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and the Treasury provided clarity for consumers and insurance companies about preventive services covered under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The health care law requires most private plans to cover preventive services like contraception without any out-of-pocket costs. However, since the law’s enactment, women have raised concerns that their insurance providers were not covering the recommended methods of contraception.
To clear up the confusion, the FAQs explain that plans and issuers must cover — without cost sharing — at least one form of contraception in each of the eighteen methods that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has identified for women in its current Birth Control Guide. If an FDA-approved service or item is not covered but an individual’s health care provider determines that it is medically necessary, then the insurance provider must cover that service or item without cost sharing. Coverage also includes patient education and counseling.
The FAQs also clarify other points:
- Plans or issuers cannot limit sex-specific preventive services based on an individual’s sex assigned at birth, gender identity, or recorded gender. If a health care provider determines that a preventive service is medically appropriate for the individual, the plan or issuer must provide coverage without cost sharing.
- If a plan or issuer covers dependent children, the recommended preventive services for those dependent children must be covered without cost sharing.
- Patients will not need to pay a co-pay, co-insurance, or deductible for the anesthesia related to a colonoscopy performed as a preventive screening procedure for colorectal cancer if a health provider determines that the anesthesia is medically appropriate.
Office on Women's Health Activities
Healthy Aging Summit 2015
The HHS Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion hosted the first national Healthy Aging Summit in Washington, D.C., on July 27 and 28, 2015. The Summit focused on increasing our understanding of the social, environmental, and emotional factors that influence health in the later years of life. The Summit sought to highlight interventions and strategies that will optimize the health and quality of life of older Americans and reduce costs to the health care system.
As a Summit co-sponsor, OWH was part of the conference steering committee and hosted a unique panel presentation on the physical, mental, and spiritual challenges of family caregiving. The presentation also highlighted the resources available to protect the health and well-being of family caregivers, the majority of whom are women. The panel, facilitated by Dr. Nancy Lee, included Ms. Gail Hunt, CEO, National Caregivers Alliance; Ms. Ann-Ellis Carthern, retired registered nurse and family caregiver; Ms. Margaret Kabat, LCSW-C, CCM, acting national director, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Caregiver Support Program; and Dr. Karen Huss, National Institute of Nursing Research. The presentations highlighted research about trends in caregiving across various sectors in the United States and shared insights from government and nonprofits.
In conjunction with the 2015 Healthy Aging Summit, OWH, the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO), and the National Association of States United for Aging and Disabilities co-hosted a one-day workshop to engage state teams and HHS regional liaisons to identify priorities for promoting healthy aging. Attendees included state health officers and officials from 45 states and the District of Columbia. These activities align with ASTHO’sPresident’s Challenge, led by Dr. Jewel Mullen. The workshop had two major goals:
- Improve the capacity of states to successfully implement healthy aging initiatives by facilitating state-to-state and regional sharing of promising strategies and common challenges
- Mobilize action in states through the creation of state-level healthy aging implementation and action plans
After two informative days of science-based sessions at the Healthy Aging Summit, state teams discussed the social determinants of health and opportunities for collaboration to improve the health of seniors across the country. The most common priorities identified by participants included fall, injury, and violence prevention; mental health and cognition (including Alzheimer’s disease and dementia); tobacco cessation; physical activity, nutrition, and weight status; and caregiver support. Emerging priorities included volunteerism, occupational safety, food insecurity, medication assistance, and domestic abuse. The full document of states and their identified priorities will be available in autumn 2015.
Supports for Nursing Moms Webinar
On August 26, OWH and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) co-hosted a webinar for the Chief Human Capital Officer Council, in support of National Breastfeeding Month. The webinar engaged supervisory- and management-level staff across the government in a discussion on Supporting Nursing Moms at Work: Employer Solutions and efforts to support the return of breastfeeding mothers to the workplace. OPM also shared examples of successful worksite lactation programs from across the government. The webinar concluded with a Q&A session where participants shared comments and other successful strategies that support nursing mothers in the workplace.
iGIANT Roundtable Discussion
OWH hosted a roundtable discussion to explore the impact of gender and sex on innovation and novel technologies for organizations that have or are in the process of developing a gender or sex-specific product, program, policy, or protocol. The initiative, iGIANT, was developed by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to begin a dialogue about best practices in product development and to inspire participants to serve as ambassadors for innovation. The discussion brought together stakeholders from government, industry, academia, professional societies, and advocacy groups. Approximately 20 participants presented overviews of their design elements and discussed challenges and opportunities to further the initiative. The roundtable discussion was the first in a series of nationwide roundtables focusing on the iGIANT initiative in the transportation, information technology, and retail sectors.
The Interpersonal Violence (IPV) Provider Network Grant Awards
OWH created the IPV Provider Network grants to address the needs of victims of interpersonal violence. The funds will support strategies to develop policies and standard procedures that provide comprehensive responses to victims of violence in health care settings.
OWH awarded $3.7 million to five organizations to test models and strategies that improve standards for documentation and communication and integrate screening and brief counseling into routine practice. Award recipients will implement plans to develop educational toolkits and certification materials that help providers and IPV service programs ensure that victims of violence receive the best possible care.
The following organizations were selected to participate:
- Regents of the University of California, San Francisco
- University of North Texas Health Science Center
- Johns Hopkins University
- Regents of the University of Minnesota
- North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Inc.
Women’s Equality Day 2015
On August 26, 2015, we celebrated Women’s Equality Day to commemorate the 95th anniversary of American women winning the right to vote. President Obama issued apresidential proclamation, and OWH joined OPM’s Division of Diversity and Inclusion to engage HHS employees in a panel discussion on equal rights, equal pay and employment, and women’s health.
The 2015 Women’s Equality Day program opened with remarks from John Gill, HHS deputy assistant secretary for human resources. The event was facilitated by Jennifer Bishop-Crawford, director of OWH’s Division of Strategic Communication, who also provided background and perspective on the occasion. Following an overview of Women’s Equality Day, Dr. Hannah Valantine, NIH’s chief officer for scientific workforce diversity, delivered a keynote address covering several notable accomplishments of women pioneers. The program concluded with panel presentations from OWH Director Dr. Nancy Lee, FDA’s Dr. Jonca Bull, and OPM’s Sharon Wong and with questions from program attendees.
The 2015 Women’s Equality Day program was broadcast via HHS Live Streaming. The recording can be viewed at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=
Upcoming Women's Health Events/Observances
National Family Caregivers Month
ACA Open Enrollment
World AIDS Day
National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
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