Mikulski vows to keep fighting for women, include her amendment in final legislation that goes to President

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The United States Senate today passed in a 61 to 39 vote an amendment authored by U.S. Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) that guarantees women preventive health care screenings and care at no cost. It is the first amendment to The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act approved by the Senate.

“Without this amendment, there would be no guarantee that women under 50 would be covered for mammograms, no guarantee of an annual women’s health exam that would include screenings for heart disease, and no guarantee that women would have access to this preventive care at no cost,” Senator Mikulski said. “Insurance companies have used every trick in the book to deny coverage to women. This amendment makes sure that the insurance companies must cover the basic care that women need at no cost.”

Currently, more than half of American women report that they delay needed care due to cost. The Mikulski Amendment guarantees that women of all ages will receive, at no cost, an annual women’s health exam, which will include screenings for the leading causes of death for women – including breast, cervical, ovarian and lung cancers; heart disease; and chronic illnesses such as diabetes. It also requires all health plans to cover comprehensive women’s preventive care and screenings with no copayments.

“Under my amendment, we are saying good-bye to an era when simply being a woman is treated as a pre-existing condition,” Senator Mikulski said. “We are saying hello to an era where decisions about preventive care and screenings are made by a woman and her doctor – not by an insurance company, Members of Congress, or a stranger – and women are guaranteed preventive screenings and care at no cost.”

Read The Rest of the Press Release

To view video of today’s floor speech by Senator Mikulski, go to: http://mikulski.senate.gov/Newsroom/VideoGallery/index.cfm?clip=120309mikulski.

For an amendment summary, go to: http://mikulski.senate.gov/_pdfs/Press/MikulskiAmendmentSummary.pdf

View the Mikulski Amendment at: http://mikulski.senate.gov/_pdfs/BAI09N48.pdf.