[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 40 (Thursday, March 18, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H1636-H1637]
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 Massachusetts (Ms. Tsongas) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Ms. TSONGAS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank Congresswoman Woolsey 
for organizing this evening. And I rise today because our health care 
status quo simply does not work for older women and must be changed.
  The rising cost of health care and the lack of access to essential 
medical services is a problem for millions of Americans throughout our 
Nation, but it is uniquely so for older women. Times of economic 
hardship like we are now facing truly illustrate the impact that our 
inadequate health care system has on older women.
  Older women disproportionately rely on their spouses for employer-
based coverage in comparison to their younger counterparts and in 
comparison to older men. That is why over 1 million of them have lost 
health insurance due to a spouse's job loss during the economic 
downturn.
  When an older woman loses her health insurance, it is even harder for 
her to find health insurance in the individual market, where there is 
little to no regulation, than her male counterparts. Older women, 
because of a combination of gender rating, age rating, and 
discrimination based on health

[[Page H1637]]

status, face premiums that are roughly four times greater than those 
who have employer-based coverage.
  But it doesn't stop there. Women who are on Medicare who do have 
health insurance are disproportionately low income, have fewer 
resources, and suffer from more chronic conditions than men. As a 
result, they pay more in out-of-pocket costs than older men. Therefore, 
Medicare's ability to provide meaningful and protective health 
insurance coverage is critical to a senior woman's health and financial 
security. And that is exactly what health care reform does.
  In 2007, over 8 million seniors hit the doughnut hole, and 64 percent 
of those were women. Health care reform permanently closes the Medicare 
doughnut hole.
  Breast cancer is a leading cause of death for older women in the 
United States, yet, 1 in 5 women aged 50 and above has not received a 
mammogram in the past 2 years. Health care reform improves Medicare to 
ensure that all prevention, including mammograms, is fully covered.
  Seventy-seven percent of Medicare beneficiaries living in long-term 
care facilities are women. Women are three-quarters of all nursing home 
residents. During a recent visit to a nursing home in my district in 
Lowell, Massachusetts, I was struck by a recent experience that truly 
illustrated this point for me.
  In one meeting, I looked at the crowd of senior citizens who came to 
ask me questions and express their concerns about the direction in 
which our country is going and was struck by the fact that I saw only 
one man in the audience.

                              {time}  1930

  While I later met a number of very interested male residents, the 
fact is that the typical nursing home resident is an 85-year-old woman 
who enters a nursing home because she lives alone and has no available 
caregiver. It is no wonder then that women are more likely to need 
long-term care services. And that is why it is so important that we 
pass health care reform that provides voluntary, long-term insurance to 
help cover the costs associated with growing older for the millions of 
senior women who need it. No one should have to make decisions based on 
their finances rather that what is best for their health. We need 
health care reform in order to address the need that older women face 
for quality, affordable health care.

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