[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 40 (Thursday, March 18, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H1630-H1631]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           HEALTH CARE REFORM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Chu) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. CHU. Mr. Speaker, women of America, Republicans want you to 
believe that our health care reform bill is poison, that doing nothing 
is better for the Nation. But the truth is doing nothing is poison for 
the women of America. Insurance companies are cheating women from 
getting the health care they need. It is women that need health care 
reform the most.
  Women have a harder time getting the care they need, women like Holly 
from Georgia. Holly is 3 months into her chemotherapy treatment for 
cervical cancer. She works at a small business that does not offer 
insurance to its employees, and she makes too much to qualify for 
Medicaid. But she thought she would be okay because of her husband's 
insurance. Then the devastating news came: her husband lost

[[Page H1631]]

his job. They shopped around for private insurance but were turned away 
by the best plans because of her cancer. They are now stuck paying $850 
a month to a private insurance company to cover their family of four, 
almost the same amount as her mortgage. It is just not fair.
  It is so clear that women need health care reform. Did you know that 
women pay more for health care? Today they are forced to settle for 
less health care at a higher price. Insurance companies charge as much 
as 50 percent more to women over men for the exact same coverage. What 
is worse is that this blatant gender inequality is legal in 38 States. 
But health care reform will make this type of gender discrimination 
illegal. Insurance companies will be forced to do what is right: charge 
everyone the same rate for the same care.
  Did you know that insurance companies make it hard for women to get 
preventive services even when it would save the insurance companies 
money? Today millions of women have trouble getting these kinds of 
services. They forgo important tests and screenings because they simply 
can't afford the copays. One-third of uninsured women go without 
preventive care for mammograms and pap smears, tests that could save 
lives if done today. But health care reform will require insurance 
companies to offer basic preventive services, reproductive health, and 
maternity care, and make these preventive tests free with insurance.
  Did you know that women have less access to insurance? Today fewer 
American women have access to their own health insurance compared to 
American men. Without a spouse, women are twice as likely to be 
uninsured than men. And when women are denied adequate coverage or lose 
their jobs, their families are hurt, too. For single mothers, 
unemployment left this group skyrocketing with troubles, leaving almost 
one-quarter of all single mothers without insurance to cover their 
families, leaving 275,000 children without regular access to doctors' 
visits or medication. But health care reform will make insurance 
affordable for all women.
  Did you know that insurance companies deny women health services? 
Today women are turned away by insurance companies because of supposed 
preexisting conditions. And what are those preexisting conditions? 
Believe it or not, they are domestic violence, pregnancy, and Cesarean 
sections. But health care reform will make it illegal to deny coverage 
due to any preexisting condition. Women will no longer be denied 
coverage for being mothers or finding a lump in their breast.
  Insurance companies are cheating women every day, and women are 
suffering because of it. Health care reform will make sure that your 
mother, your sister, and your daughter will be able to afford the 
treatment that they need, the best insurance they can afford, one that 
won't turn them away. That is why I strongly support this legislation. 
The women of America need health care reform.

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