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Sens. Joni Ernst and Chuck Grassley Are Fighting To Enable Patients To See Healthcare Prices Upfront

IWV Press — Thu, 20 Aug 2020 14:08:00 CST

Senators Joni Ernst and Chuck Grassley are sponsoring a law requiring hospitals and insurance companies to show you their real prices and secret negotiated rates.

Senator Susan Collins Supports Systemwide Price Transparency in Health Care

IWV Press — Tue, 18 Aug 2020 15:08:00 CST

Do you want healthcare price transparency? 90% of Americans do. Now, it’s more important than ever.

Independent Women's Voice Leads Coalition Letter Opposing Inclusion of Highly Controversial VAWA in COVID-19 Aid Package

IWV Press — Wed, 22 Apr 2020 04:04:00 CST

For the homepage...

Independent Women's Voice Lead Coalition Letter to Congress Opposes the Equal Rights Amendment

IWV Press — Wed, 12 Feb 2020 11:02:00 CST

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Statement: On Human Rights Day We Need to Protect Our Young Women and Girls

IWV Press — Tue, 10 Dec 2019 05:12:00 CST

“Today and every day, we cannot ignore that our young women and girls are being denied basic human rights when they fall victim to horrific practices like Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), child marriage, sex trafficking, and honor violence. This isn’t just a problem overseas; this affects people living here in the United States. Our government must act to protect these girls by passing legislation protecting them against such abuses.”

Statement: Independent Women's Voice Applauds Senator Joni Ernst for Introducing the “Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2019”

IWV Press — Fri, 22 Nov 2019 15:11:00 CST

It is way past time that we modernize the Violence Against Women Act to ensure that it recognizes growing threats to women and girls in this country.

How to Protect and Enhance Direct Medical Care, and Not Diminish It

anonymous — Thu, 7 Nov 2019 07:11:00 CST

“The Primary Care Enhancement Act” (HR 3708) will threaten patients’ ability to enjoy the valued benefits of Direct Primary Care if paying with an HSA.

Referendum 88: Giving Washington's public universities the freedom to discriminate on the basis of race

Inez Stepman — Mon, 4 Nov 2019 11:11:00 CST

Tomorrow, the citizens of Washington will vote on Referendum 88. If it passes, the state and its public universities will be free to discriminate on the basis of race while making hiring and admissions decisions.

Statement: Independent Women's Voice Condemns the Star Chamber Inquiry by the House

IWV Press — Fri, 25 Oct 2019 14:10:00 CST

Independent Women's Voice condemns the Star Chamber inquiry currently being conducted by the U.S. House of Representatives and supports Senate Resolution 378, introduced this week by Senator Graham.

Statement: IWV Applauds RSC’s Health Reform Plan; Finally, a Healthcare Plan That Gets Back to Basics

IWV Press — Tue, 22 Oct 2019 10:10:00 CST

“This plan is not simply a political football or a response to the Affordable Care Act: it’s a solution aimed at problems in health care that have festered for a long time.”

Unlike Medicare for All, RSC Health Reform Plan Focuses on Personalized Health Care

Hadley Heath Manning — Tue, 22 Oct 2019 10:10:00 CST

Today the Republican Study Committee (RSC) released a new health reform plan. This plan focuses on “personalized health care” – a real contrast to the Democrats’ focus on Medicare for All.

PDAA Would Ensure that Pregnant Workers are Protected in the Workplace

Heather Madden — Mon, 21 Oct 2019 12:10:00 CST

We all agree that pregnant women deserve the same treatment that all other workers receive. In 1978, Congress passed the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA), which bars discriminatory treatment against women who become pregnant. Unfortunately, due to the law’s outdated and ambiguous language, it is not clear what accommodations employers need to make in order to ensure that pregnant workers are protected and treated fairly.

Thankfully, this confusion can be cleared up with a simple fix.

The Pregnancy Discrimination Amendment Act (PDAA), sponsored by Representatives Tim Walberg (R-MI) and Ann Wagner (R-MO), would clarify and modernize the 1978 Pregnancy Discrimination Act. If enacted, the PDAA would require employers to treat pregnant workers the same as any other employees in similar working conditions.

However, an alternative proposal being considered in Congress, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, would introduce a new statute that would create new requirements for how employers accommodate pregnant women and penalize those who fail to meet these new standards. This may sound nice, but the truth is that the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act would make pregnant women (or women in their childbearing years) seem like potential liabilities, which can discourage employers from hiring or promoting women.

We can ensure that pregnant women receive fair treatment in the workplace without creating new laws or limiting women's economic opportunities.

Unlike the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, the Pregnancy Discrimination Amendment Act would not create any new laws or regulations and instead make a needed change to an existing statute. This was one of the many recommendations made by IWV’s sister organization, Independent Women’s Forum, in the Working for Women Report, an agenda for improving women’s lives.

To learn more, check out IWV’s Fact Sheet on the Pregnancy Discrimintion Amendment Act:

Fact Sheet: The Pregnancy D... by Independent Women's Voice

Independent Women’s Voice Testifies Before Virginia General Assembly on the Consequences of a New Paid Leave Entitlement Program

IWV Press — Mon, 16 Sep 2019 22:09:00 CST

Today, Independent Women’s Voice External Relations Director Ashley MacLeay testifies before the Virginia General Assembly Commerce and Labor Paid Leave Workgroup on HB. 2120 and SB. 1639. MacLeay's testimony focused heavily on how HB. 2120 and SB. 1639 programs' unintended consequences will primarily harm women and low-income workers and focused on alternative approaches that encourage private-sector solutions and offer all workers the greatest amount of freedom and flexibility.

Administration Promises Genuine Price Transparency

Heather Madden — Fri, 13 Sep 2019 15:09:00 CST

The Administration is considering larger, more systemic changes to alleviate the hardship brought on by surprise billing, as well as addressing problems related to not knowing how much we pay for medical services and what our insurance companies pay on our behalf.

Fact Check: Argument in Favor of “The Wall”

Policy Staff — Fri, 2 Aug 2019 08:08:00 CST

IWV came across a video of Charlie Kirk, founder and president of Turning Point USA, making an argument in favor of “The Wall” or increased physical barriers at the U.S.-Mexico border. Kirk cites many facts; we decided to offer a fact check of selected points.

Should Colleges Be Allowed to Ban Single-Sex Clubs?

Heather Madden — Wed, 3 Jul 2019 05:07:00 CST

Why did Members of Congress just introduce a new bill, the College Freedom of Association Act, validating freedom of association protections for students on college campuses?

Price Transparency Checklist: Genuine vs. Counterfeit

IWV Staff — Tue, 2 Jul 2019 14:07:00 CST

With the passage of the long needed and much appreciated executive order to improve price and quality transparency in health care, the battle between the status quo and the wellbeing of patients and their doctors move to regulatory implementation.

STATEMENT: Blackburn Taking Stand to Strengthen Federal Law to Condemn Perpetrators of Female Genital Mutilation

IWV Press — Thu, 27 Jun 2019 09:06:00 CST

Senator Blackburn is doing more than just denouncing FGM, as Congress did in May, she is truly standing up for girls’ and women’s human rights by strengthening federal law to hold perpetrators of FGM accountable.

Caring Transcends Partisanship

Melissa Ortiz — Mon, 24 Jun 2019 11:06:00 CST

The Credit for Caring Act would ease the lives of the more than 43 million family caregivers of people who are aging or living with disabilities or chronic illnesses that interfere with their activities of daily living.

Sign the Petition: Stop the Spread of Infectious Diseases

IWV Staff — Wed, 5 Jun 2019 15:06:00 CST

Protect America’s most vulnerable. Urge the government to act now to prevent an impending public health crisis in the U.S. and protect America’s most vulnerable