[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 28 (Wednesday, February 11, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2164-S2165]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 6--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

  Ms. STABENOW (for herself, Ms. Mikulski, Mrs. Murray, and Mr. 
Sanders) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions:

                             S. Con. Res. 6

       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

[[Page S2165]]

     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 Senate (the House of Representatives 
     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.

                          ____________________