The Affordable Care Act ( Aca ) Expands Dependent Coverage

The Effect of the Extension of Dependent Coverage under the Affordable Care Act of 2010

Under the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) birth control benefit, all health plans must cover contraceptive methods and counseling for all women, as prescribed by a healthcare provider (The National Women’s Law Center, 2017). These services must be provided with no cost-sharing, such as out-of-pocket costs like deductibles, co-payments, and co-insurance provider (The National Women’s Law Center, 2017). The article, “Did Contraceptive Use Patterns Change After the Affordable Care Act?” presents interesting insight on the ACA’s effect on females’ contraceptive utilization (Bearak & Jones, 2017).

Unfortunately, many young people face barriers preventing them from accessing recommended and necessary sexual health services. Stigma, discrimination, lack of knowledge, cost, transportation, and perceived lack of confidentiality all pose substantial obstacles to the services capable of providing the healthcare and education needed to help prevent STIs and other issues such as unwanted pregnancies. This paper aims to investigate a current piece of legislation addressing this issue, the Youth Access to Sexual Health Services Act (YASHSA) of 2016 (H.R. 4475, S. 3360, 2016). In 2016 Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) and Congresswoman Alma Adams (D-NC-12) introduced this bill and if enacted, the YASHSA would provide grants to specific qualifying entities to increase and improve access and pathways for marginalized youth to obtain their sexual and reproductive health care services.

Mental illnesses are very common in the United States, with one in five of adolescents having a diagnosed mental illness and in the last year less than half of these adolescents have received proper treatment. The most common mental disorders, anxiety and depression, can disrupt daily life and result in suicide, which is the third most frequent cause of death in teenagers (“The Office of Adolescent Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services”). Ten percent of adolescents did not have health insurance in 2013 and those who did, had a very limited amount of mental health care services provided to them (“The Office of Adolescent Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services”). It has been proved that it is even less likely that adolescents who are poor, homeless, gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender will receive the care that is necessary for their health and even life (“The Office of Adolescent Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services”). Mental disorders are not only an

With the Affordable Care Act allowing teens to stay under their parents health insurance plans to the age of 26 years will enable these residents to seek care within the Winchendon Health Center. It remains to be seen if this will be instrumental in decreasing teen birth rates by allowing affordable reproductive care and sexual education to a vulnerable population. At

The Yolo Community Health Assessment states that children ages from 5 to 14 were hospitalized 11,787 times related to mental health issues which is 2.9% higher than California’s rate and for ages 15 to 19 there were 23,514 hospitalizations which is 8.8% higher than the state’s rate. The county has seen an increase of self inflicting injuries from individuals ages 5 to 20 that were hospitalized. There has been an increasingly alarming rate of hospitalizations relating to mental health among children from 2007 and on. There is about 18% of high school freshmen and about 11% of high school juniors that had reported that they seriously considered attempting to suicide within the past month. Even though mental illnesses is one of Yolo’s top need for improvement,

One in five American teens have a mental illness today and that number is only expected to rise. Whether the illness is anxiety, depression, or a behavioral affliction, it affects far too many teens. Mental illness can be prevented, but people need to be aware of it. The stigma against it is prohibiting people of all ages from getting the help they need. The only way to make a difference in protecting teens against mental illness is by teaching about it in school to break the stigma.

Adolescents visiting their primary care doctors are often written off as just going through normal teenage angst. Due to this, those teenagers who aren’t taken seriously and treated right away could possibly develop a severe mental illness in adulthood. If the United States wanted to preserve, and even improve, its life expectancy rate it would focus on providing mental health services geared towards adolescents. There is a clear association between mental illness and chronic disease, which puts those “at risk of dying 25 years prematurely from cardiovascular and other chronic diseases” (Colpe et al., 2009). Therefore, if adolescent’s mental health were paid more attention to, it is possible that later on in adulthood they are less likely to develop a serious mental illness or chronic

“By the time a teenager graduates high school, about one in nine of his or her peers has attempted suicide” (Borrell). Suicide has now become a reality in schools all around. It is something that high schools face everyday and something needs to be done about it. Bullystatistics.org states that “Suicide is the third leading cause of death among young people. For every suicide among young people, there are at least 100 suicide attempts” (Bullying and Suicide). The Waukee School district is a community that is greatly affected by this problem. Counselor Beth Streit was interviewed and she says she recalls about 7 suicides within the past 5 years that she has been at Waukee. High schools everywhere including Waukee should promote mental health

The paper will also suggest prevention, intervention and treatment options for teens involved in risky sexual behavior, are pregnant, or infected with STIs. It is the opinion of this paper that it is important to assist teenagers in delaying in engaging in sexual intercourse and also holds that it is upon policymakers to accept that American teenagers are sexually active. To this end, it is the opinion of this paper that Emergency Contraception (EC) should be availed to teenagers for reasons discussed herein. In addition to EC, sexual education should be utilized as a tool for reducing teenage pregnancies, STI infection rates, and risky sexual activity in the

Research on this program has shown a favorable outcome of reduced suicide. “At a 3-month posttest, it was found that intervention high school students were less likely than control students to report having had suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts” (“SAMHSA,” 2014). Results were taken from questionnaires. This program, however, is ineffective for increasing the receipt of mental health and/or substance abuse treatment and ineffective for increasing social competence related to help seeking behaviors (“SAMHSA,” 2014). Overall the program showed improved in suicidal thoughts and behaviors and knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about mental health.

As a result, mental health screening should be abolished. An alternative to screening would be better mental health awareness programs, such as a video teaching teens about depression and suicide, and for counsellors also to work with the teenager's family and acknowledge the community situation (Borrell B,

A major concern for our group is the lack of care for people with mental illness. A 2014 report from Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, shows that nearly one in five adults experienced mental illness in 2013 (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2014). According to the Mayo Clinic, “Mental illness refers to a wide range of mental health conditions — disorders that affect your mood, thinking and behavior. Examples of mental illness include depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, eating disorders and addictive behaviors” (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2014). One in 17 live with a serious mental illness, and every year more than 800,000 people die from suicide. Each day about 22 veterans die from suicide (Shane III, 2014). Our team believes this topic is trying to be addressed, but much more needs to be done. We wanted to take at deeper look at people in that have mental illnesses, including children, veterans, and the elderly.

Teen pregnancy is a societal concern and has been seen as an urgent social problem in the United States since the 1970s (Coley & Chase-Lansdale, 1998). Among developed countries, the United States ranks first in rates of both adolescent pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) (Stanger-Hall & Hall, 2001). American adolescents and adolescents of other industrialized countries do not have very different patterns of sexual activity, however American teenagers’ contraception use is less consistent and effective (Coley & Chase-Lansdale, 1998). Nearly 50% of sexually transmitted diseases are acquired by young men and women aged 15 to 24 (Satterwhite et al., 2013). While teenage childbearing has decreased significantly in the past century, there has been an increased rate of sexual activity, illegitimacy, and welfare receipt that raises public concerns (Coley & Chase-Lansdale, 1998).

groundbreaking scientific achievement of the 20th century. Despite this remarkable achievement, unsurprisingly as a nation that cherishes debate as a gateway to constructive reform, the accessibility to birth control has not ceased from being one of the many controversial topics even a century later from its creation. Yet in the midst of ongoing controversy, under the administration of former President Barack Obama, congress passed the Affordable Care Act. As a provision of the historical act, birth control would be fully covered by all insurances nationwide. This act has served as a beacon of hope for many Americans, particularly women, seeking the opportunity to limit unintended pregnancies. On the flip side, others perceive Obama’s health care reform as a cue for a series of legislation that would allow young women to access birth control on demand triggering other health concerns and young women irresponsibly freeing themselves from the responsibilities associated with engaging in sexual activity. Pertinent concerns should not be disregarded with the use of birth control. However, so long as the proper information is provided upon distribution, Birth control should be readily available on demand for young women as a preliminary step to mitigate the most pressing consequences associated with teen pregnancy such as the limitation on future opportunities.