The Affordable Care Act (ACA) and Medicaid are foundational to women’s health.
Millions of women get healthcare through Medicaid and the ACA including preventive care, family planning services, maternal health care, and more.
We are defending against attacks on these foundational health programs and working to ensure access to high quality, lower cost health care for all women and families.
This includes fighting to protect the consumer protections in the ACA that prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability in health care.
The resources in this section summarize the importance of Medicaid and the ACA to women and families, and highlight what is at risk in attempts to repeal or undermine them.

Defending Medicaid
- National Coalition for Gender Justice in Health Policy January 8, 2025 Letter to Congress: Protect Medicaid
- From Maternal Health to Long-Term Care: Medicaid is Vital for Women’s Lifelong Health
- Trump’s Plan to Slash Medicaid Will Harm Older Women- And the Economy (in collaboration with Justice in Aging)
- At Risk: Critical Medicaid Benefits for Moms
- Medicaid Cuts and Caps Harm Older Women (in collaboration with Justice in Aging)
- Medicaid Matters Storytelling Campaign
- Medicaid Matters for Me (Natasha’s Story)
- Medicaid Matters for My Sister-in-Law Mandy
- Medicaid Matters for My Mom Maria
- Medicaid Matters for Me (Lorena’s Story)
- Medicaid Matters for My Sister TJ
- Medicaid Matters for My Husband’s Patients
- Medicaid Matters for You
- Republicans’ Proposed Medicaid Cuts Would Harm Women Veterans
- National Coalition for Gender Justice in Health Policy May 12, 2025 Letter to Congress: Medicaid Cuts Endanger Maternal and Child Health
- Medicaid: Ensuring Basic Health Care for Millions of Women and Children
Defending the ACA
- Supreme Court Case Threatens Access to Critical No-Cost Preventive Services
- Health Care Costs Will Rise if ACA’s Premium Tax Credits Expire: Six Reasons Why Congress Must Extend ACA Tax Credits
- Short-Term, Limited-Duration Plans: A Disaster for Women and Families
- The House Republican Repeal Bill Threatens Reproductive Justice for Women of Color (in collaboration with In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda, National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum and National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health)
- Repealing the Essential Health Benefits Would be Devastating for Women’s Health
- Defunding Planned Parenthood: An Attack on Public Health
- “Planned Parenthood Provides Essential Services That Improve Women’s Health” in the Annals of Internal Medicine
- Repealing the ACA Endangers Women’s Health and Financial Security
About the ACA
- Insurance coverage for women of color: American Indian and Alaska Native women, Asian women, Black women, Latinas, Native Hawaiian and Alaska Native women
- Women’s Health Coverage: Sources and Rates of Insurance
- A Consumer’s Guide to Choosing and Using Health Insurance
- Summary of Key Provisions
- Improving Care for Pregnant Women and New Parents
- Supporting Informed Decision-Making in the Health Insurance Marketplace: A Progress Report for 2017