Another Call for Women’s Action on Health Care Reform
Filed under: Obama Administration, Private Insurance
Just a little over a month ago, Michelle Obama called upon women to take action to make sure their representatives would vote for health care reform. This past week, Michelle made another request for women to respond to the national health reform debate during a breast cancer event at the White House. As the debate seemingly winds towards a conclusion of reform, still, women are unsure that health care reform will actually accomplish that which really needs to be done to help women access better, more comprehensive health care. While mom’s of America are saying the current health care reform proposals do not include their needs, the National Women’s Law Center exclaims “I am not a preexisting condition.”
The National Women’s Law Center released a second report this month on the affect of gender bias and discrimination in health insurance on women’s lives. Their report includes an analysis of the discrepancies in health care access between men and women as well as an updated state-by-state comparative chart of states that still allow gender-rating and pre-existing condition discrimination in their health care plans. Another interesting aspect of the report is the information on states that have, as of late, reformed their health care systems to be more inclusive of women’s access to health care. One might wonder if the reformation was spurred or enabled in part as a result of the initial report’s publicity.
If you’re wondering about how your state fares in relation to women’s health care issues, be sure to check the most recent NWLC Report as well as Kaiser’s www.statehealthfacts.org. Also, the Commonwealth Fund has just released a new report comparing the various Congressional health reform bills of 2009. The report shows that the proposals which seem to pay most (though not enough) attention to women’s health care needs are that of the Senate Health, Labor, and Pensions Committee and the House of Representatives Tri-Committee, which both hope to establish an Office of Women’s Health. All of these online resources are a great way to get more information and find out where holes in the health reform bills still need to be filled.
To be able to voice direct concerns, the organization Women of Color United for Health Care Reform is hosting a call-in day on Tuesday, October 27th that will directly connect women to their respective Senators and Representatives. The calls will be a chance for women to tell their Congress members what they want from health care reform and why allowance of pre-existing conditions denials and gender-rating are not acceptable. Such calls worked well earlier this month in an event organized by Organizing for America, which enabled callers to tell Congress that they wanted health care reform– with many saying they that really wanted a public option.
Action needs to be taken– and the Obama Administration is asking for exactly that from women. Though women are most often the health care decision makers in the family unit, men are also needed to voice their concerns: why their mothers, daughters, wives, and sisters deserve a health care plan that serves their needs. Call in on Tuesday, the 27th and let Congress know what’s on your mind.
Great post–I’ve emailed it to Feminist Law Professors. The DoubleX blog at Slate should also be interested.