[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 40 (Thursday, March 18, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H1636]
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. Watson) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. WATSON. Mr. Speaker, an estimated 64 million women do not have 
adequate health insurance coverage. 1.7 million women have lost their 
health insurance coverage since the beginning of the economic turndown, 
which was somewhere around December 2007.
  Nearly two-thirds lost coverage because their spouse's job was lost. 
Thirty-nine percent of all low-income women lack health insurance 
coverage. Women are more likely to deplete their savings accounts 
paying medical bills than men. Women are charged up to 48 percent more 
than men in the individual market.
  Any medical event can place a woman at risk for potentially 
devastating financial costs, even when she has insurance.
  In a recent study, more than half of women reported delaying needed 
medical care due to costs compared with 39 percent of men. In many 
cases, even women and children with insurance do not receive key 
preventive care, from mammograms to well-baby and well-child care, 
because they can't afford the copays. Partly due to cost, 1 in 5 women 
over the age of 50 has not had a mammogram in the past 2 years.
  Now, our health care reform stops insurance premium discrimination 
against women known as gender rating. It bans insurance companies from 
charging women higher premiums than men for the same coverage. Since 
40-year-old women are charged up to 48 percent more than 40-year-old 
men with the same health status, we really need this bill.
  It would end discrimination based on preexisting conditions such as 
domestic violence and previous C-sections, prohibiting insurance 
companies from charging higher rates for these conditions. The bill 
says that 79 percent of women with individual market policies will have 
the maternal coverage that they haven't had in the past.
  Our health care reform bill requires maternity care to be a part of 
essential benefits. It requires all employer plans and gateway plans to 
have women's screening and preventive care provided at a minimum or no 
cost. This includes annual mammograms for women under 50.
  It will allow women to visit their choice of community providers who 
offer the spectrum of essential benefits, including women's health 
clinics. It would allow OB-GYNs to be the center of a medical home 
supported by community health teams. It codifies offices of women's 
health via the Department of Health and Human Services to ensure that 
women's health issues will be comprehensively addressed, from basic 
research to awareness campaigns.
  I would say, Mr. Speaker, to all of my colleagues that if we really 
want to make the United States a number one Nation in health delivery, 
let's start with the women who bear the children who will be the future 
of this country.

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