[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 3]
[House]
[Pages 3855-3856]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         WOMEN AND HEALTH CARE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. LEE of California. Mr. Speaker, as we stand now on the cusp of 
history, we have never really been this close to assuring quality, 
affordable health care for all Americans. While health care

[[Page 3856]]

reform is essential for everyone, women are in particularly dire need 
for major changes to our health care system. Too many women are locked 
out of the health care system because they face discriminatory 
insurance practices and cannot afford the necessary care for themselves 
and for their children.
  In 40 States and in the District of Columbia, insurers are allowed to 
consider gender, mind you, when setting premium rates in the individual 
insurance market. This practice permits insurers to charge women more 
than men for the exact same coverage. Additionally, businesses with 
predominantly female workforces can end up paying significantly more 
for their coverage than for predominantly male businesses.
  In the past 2 years, nearly 7 million Americans have lost their 
health care coverage. This is just not acceptable.
  While we all know that the current health care reform bill has some 
flaws--unfortunately it does not have a public option, or an expansion 
of Medicare, or a single-payer option--it offers vitally important 
advances for women's health. The bill makes health care coverage more 
affordable and extends many health services that women need.
  Without health care reform, family premiums will continue to 
skyrocket leaving more and more women unable to afford health care. The 
health care system is failing American women. We owe it to each and 
every woman to pass this health care bill.
  When I cast my vote, I will be thinking of my mother who nearly died 
giving birth to me, my mother Mildred. When I cast this vote, I will be 
thinking of my sister, Mildred, who suffers from multiple sclerosis. I 
will be thinking of all of the women who are denied coverage because 
domestic violence is considered a preexisting condition by insurance 
companies. When I cast my vote, I will be thinking about so many of my 
friends who died prematurely because they did not have access to 
preventative health care.
  And, Mr. Speaker, when I cast my vote, I'm going to be thinking about 
my granddaughters Jordan, Giselle Barbara Lee, and Simone Lee, because 
we, when we cast this vote, are going to ensure that my granddaughters 
and my grandsons live longer and healthier lives.
  So if we do nothing, the health care system will continue to work 
better for insurance companies than it does for the American people. 
And that is why the President has put forward a plan that will give 
American families and small business owners more control over their own 
health care by giving them more consumer protections and shifting power 
away from the insurance companies.
  But if we pass health care insurance reform, we also know that 
families and businesses will have control of their health care, the 
insurance industry will be prohibited finally from continuing its worst 
practices like denying coverage based on preexisting conditions, and we 
also will cut the deficit by up to $1 trillion over the next two 
decades. As the President said this past week, if not us, then who. If 
not now, then when. Now is the time.
  I urge my colleagues to support this health care reform legislation 
for our women, for our families, for our children, for all Americans. 
This is a major first step in setting a strong foundation where finally 
health care becomes a basic human right for all rather than a privilege 
for the few, which it has been in the past. We are finally, mind you, 
finally catching up with the rest of the industrialized world.

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