Women's Health Across the Lifespan

    

Women's health issues continue to capture the spotlight in state legislatures, as the importance of health-related topics have grown along with demands on state budgets. Policymakers are often forced to view women's health by issue area such as breast cancer, chronic disease or pregnancy. A better way to understand women's health involves looking at a woman's life comprehensively.

Women's health begins at birth. In early childhood, health depends on proper nutrition and physical activity, and immunizations. As girls move into the teen and early adult years, awareness, prevention and treatment for sexually transmitted infections (STI) and tobacco use become a concern for policymakers. Policymakers also address a variety of reproductive issues. Each year legislators made decisions about family planning, insurance mandates for contraceptives, infertility treatments, prenatal/postnatal services, breastfeeding, newborn screening and preventative screenings for women. As women grow older their health needs change. Management of cardiovascular and other chronic diseases becomes vital, as does screening for and knowledge about lung cancer, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, diabetes and a variety of other conditions. Mental health services throughout a woman's lifespan greatly affect her overall health as well.

NCSL Publications on Women's Health 

• Improving Women’s Health: State Policy Options-NCSL brief on key challenges to women’s health, including chronic disease and access to care, December 2015
• Improving Women’s Health: Health Challenges, Access and Prevention - NCSL brief on health challenges faced by women and decreasing barriers to access, June 2013
• Improving Women’s Health Opportunities and Challenges in Health Reform- NCSL brief on health challenges and opportunities through federal policy for women, February 2012
• Improving Women’s Health: State Policy Options- NCSL brief on a list of women’s health policy options, March 2011
• Reducing the Prevalence and Costs of Heart Disease - NCSL Legisbrief, April 2015
• Alzheimer's Disease - NCSL Postcard, September 2012
• Chemotherapy Treatment Options and Policies - NCSL Legisbrief about chemotherapy, May 2012

Women's Health News and Updates

• Women’s Health Insurance Coverage - Kaiser Family Foundation Fact Sheet, November 2015
• Health Reform: Implications for Women’s Access to Coverage and Care - Kaiser Family Foundation brief on the affects of the ACA on women’s access to healthcare, August 2013

NCSL Women's Health Fall Forum Preconferences

Fall Forum 2013 Preconference – Women’s Health: Policy Strategies and Innovations for Wellness

Fall Forum 2012 Preconference – Improving Women’s Health: Research, Innovation, and Leadership

Fall Forum 2011 Preconference – Improving Women’s Health: Opportunities and Challenges of Health Reform

Fall Forum 2010 Preconference – Policy Options to Improve the Health of Women of All Ages

 

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