[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 48 Introduced in House (IH)]
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. CON. RES. 48
Expressing the sense of Congress that national health care reform
should ensure that the health care needs of women and of all
individuals in the United States are met.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 11, 2009
Ms. Schakowsky (for herself, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Bishop of Georgia, Ms.
Bordallo, Mrs. Capps, Ms. Castor of Florida, Ms. DeLauro, Mr. Hinchey,
Mr. Hodes, Ms. Lee of California, Ms. Zoe Lofgren of California, Ms.
McCollum, Mr. Nadler of New York, Mr. Scott of Virginia, Ms. Shea-
Porter, Ms. Slaughter, Mr. Stark, Ms. Sutton, Mrs. Napolitano, and Mr.
McGovern) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was
referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of Congress that national health care reform
should ensure that the health care needs of women and of all
individuals in the United States are met.
Whereas women often make health care decisions for themselves and their
families;
Whereas women have expressed a desire to have affordable health care on which
they can depend throughout their lives and through life transitions,
including starting a family, changing jobs, working part-time or full-
time, divorce, caring for an elderly or sick family member, having a
major disease, and retirement;
Whereas women with good health care coverage worry about maintaining such
coverage and keeping their health care providers;
Whereas women are more likely than men to seek essential preventive and routine
care, to have a chronic health condition, and to take a prescription
drug on a daily basis;
Whereas women pay 68 percent more than men for out-of-pocket medical costs, due
in large part to reproductive health care needs;
Whereas approximately 53 percent of underinsured individuals, and 68 percent of
uninsured individuals, forgo needed care and approximately 45 percent of
underinsured individuals, and 51 percent of uninsured individuals,
report difficulty paying medical bills;
Whereas, in 2004, 1 in 6 women with individual health care coverage reported
that they postponed, or went without, needed health care because they
could not afford such health care;
Whereas high-deductible health insurance plans often are marketed to young women
as an inexpensive health care coverage option, but such plans often fail
to cover pregnancy-related care, the most expensive health care event
most young families face and the leading cause of hospital stays for
young women;
Whereas, in 2007, 42 percent of the under-65 population in the United States,
approximately 75,000,000 adults, had either no insurance or inadequate
insurance, up from 35 percent in 2003;
Whereas nearly 16 percent of people in the United States (approximately
47,000,000 people) are uninsured, including 18 percent of adult women
aged 18 to 64 (approximately 17,000,000 women) and 12 percent of
children (approximately 9,000,000 children);
Whereas the Institute of Medicine estimated that, in 2000, lack of health care
coverage resulted in 18,000 excess deaths in the United States (a number
that the Urban Institute estimated grew to 22,000 by 2006) and estimated
that acquiring health insurance reduces mortality rates for previously
uninsured individuals by 10 to 15 percent;
Whereas women rely on women's health care providers throughout their lives, for
comprehensive primary and preventive care, surgical care, and treatment
and management of both acute and long-term health problems;
Whereas a ``medical home'' should ensure each woman direct access to women's
health care providers and care coordination throughout her lifetime;
Whereas uninsured women with breast cancer are 30 to 50 percent more likely than
insured women with breast cancer to die from the disease, and uninsured
women are 3 times less likely than insured women to have had a Pap test
in the last 3 years, putting uninsured women at a 60 percent greater
risk of late-stage cervical cancer;
Whereas 13 percent of all pregnant women are uninsured, making them less likely
to seek prenatal care in the first trimester of their pregnancies, less
likely to receive the optimal number of prenatal health care visits
during their pregnancies, and 31 percent more likely to experience an
adverse health outcome after giving birth;
Whereas the lack, or inadequate receipt, of prenatal care is associated with
pregnancy-related mortality 2 to 3 times higher, and infant mortality 6
times higher, than that of women receiving early prenatal care, and also
is associated with an increased risk of low birth weight and preterm
birth;
Whereas heart disease is the leading cause of death for both women and men, but
women are less likely than men to receive lifestyle counseling,
diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, and cardiac rehabilitation and
are more likely to die or have a second heart attack, demonstrating
inequalities between women and men in access to health care;
Whereas persisting health care disparities also are evident in that Hispanic and
Native American women and children are 3 times as likely, and African-
American women are nearly twice as likely, to be uninsured than non-
Hispanic white women;
Whereas, in 2005, nearly 80 percent of the female population with HIV/AIDS was
African-American or Hispanic, and HIV/AIDS incidence rates are
dramatically higher for African-American and Hispanic women and
adolescents (60.2 and 15.8 per 100,000, respectively) than for white
women and adolescents (3.0 per 100,000);
Whereas women are less likely than men to receive health insurance through their
employers and more likely than men to be insured as a dependent, making
them more vulnerable than men to insurance loss in the event of divorce
or death of a spouse;
Whereas 64 percent of uninsured women are in families with at least 1 adult
working full-time;
Whereas health care costs are increasingly unaffordable for working families and
employers, with employer-sponsored health insurance premiums having
increased 87 percent between 2000 and 2006;
Whereas the approximately 9,100,000 women-owned businesses in the United States
employ 27,500,000 individuals, contribute $3,600,000,000,000 to the
economy, and face serious obstacles in obtaining affordable health care
coverage for their employees;
Whereas the lack of affordable health care coverage creates barriers for women
who want to change jobs or create their own small businesses;
Whereas health care professionals, a significant portion of which are women,
have a stake in achieving reform that allows them to provide the highest
quality of care for their patients;
Whereas 56 percent of all health caregivers are women;
Whereas although the United States spends twice as much on health care as the
median industrialized nation, among the 30 developed nations of the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the health care
system of the United States ranks near the bottom on most measures of
health status and ranks 37th in overall health performance among 191
nations; and
Whereas the Institute of Medicine estimates that the cost of achieving full
health insurance coverage in the United States would be less than the
loss in economic productivity from existing coverage gaps: Now,
therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),
That Congress--
(1) commits to passing, not later than 18 months after the
adoption of this resolution by Congress, legislation that
guarantees health care for women and all individuals and
establishes coverage that enables women to attain good health
that they can maintain during their reproductive years and
throughout their lives and that--
(A) recognizes the special role that women play as
health care consumers, caregivers, and providers;
(B) guarantees a level of benefits and care,
including comprehensive reproductive health care,
pregnancy-related care, and infant care, that is
necessary to achieve and maintain good health
throughout a woman's lifetime and lessen the burdens
caused by poor health;
(C) promotes primary and preventive care, including
family planning, contraceptive equity, and care
continuity;
(D) provides a choice of public and private health
insurance plans and direct access to a choice of health
care providers to ensure continuity of coverage and a
delivery system that meets the needs of women;
(E) eliminates health disparities in coverage,
treatment, and outcomes on the basis of gender,
culture, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, health
status, and sexual orientation;
(F) shares responsibility for financing among
employers, individuals, and the government, while
taking into account the needs of small businesses;
(G) ensures that access to health care is
affordable;
(H) enhances health care quality and patient
safety;
(I) ensures a sufficient supply of qualified
providers through expanded medical and public health
education and adequate reimbursement;
(J) ensures every woman access to a women's
``medical home'', including direct access to women's
health care providers and care coordination, throughout
each woman's lifetime;
(K) recognizes and promotes the role of women as
providers of health care; and
(L) promotes administrative efficiency, reduces
unnecessary paperwork, and is easy for health care
consumers and providers to use; and
(2) urges the President to sign such legislation into law.
<all>