This past Mother’s Day launched the 20th annual National Women’s Health Week. Led by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office on Women’s Health, the goal is to empower women to make their health a priority and raise awareness of the steps one can take to improve their health. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends many common measures, such as proper health screenings, staying physically active, eating healthy, and promoting other healthy behaviors. Healthy behaviors include getting enough sleep, being tobacco-free, washing your hands, not texting while driving, and wearing a seatbelt, a bicycle helmet, and sunscreen when appropriate. The Office on Women’s Health website has specific suggestions for women through their 20s to their 90s. The Affordable Care Act (ACA; aka Obamacare) established Essential

Health Benefits that insurers are required to cover, including maternity care. Following the Trump administration’s failed attempts to repeal the ACA in 2017, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a year later that insurers will be allowed to omit these Essential Health Benefits from their insurance offerings, leaving the state of health insurance to pre-ACA standards when women were often charged inordinate fees for “extra” maternity coverage. This is compounded by the Trump-approved short-term insurance plans, that are held to much lighter standards than Obama-era insurance offerings. “Trumpcare” plans have low premiums but high out-of-pocket costs and poor benefit coverage — they’re not required to cover pre-existing conditions or healthcare situations such as pregnancy — and lack provider…