First Lady Says Health Reform Will Help Women, Create Equality In Coverage

Main Category: Women's Health / Gynecology
Also Included In: Health Insurance / Medical Insurance
Article Date: 22 Sep 2009 - 2:00 PDT

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In a speech at a private event on Friday, first lady Michelle Obama urged women to push for health reform, saying that President Obama's plan would help achieve "true equality" for women, the Washington Post reports. Speaking to about 140 health care industry and women's group representatives, Obama called the current health system "a status quo that is just unacceptable" and tied efforts to change it with the battle for women's rights, according to the Post.

Obama, a former vice president in the University of Chicago hospital system, said, "In many states, insurance companies can still discriminate because of gender. And this is still shocking to me." She added, "These are the kind of facts that still wake me up at night, that women in this country have been denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions like having a [caesarean] section or having had a baby" or being a domestic violence survivor (Gerhart, Washington Post, 9/19). "For two years on the campaign trail, this was what I heard from women, that they were being crushed, crushed by the current structure of our health care," she said (Babington, AP/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 9/18).

Women often pay more than men of the same age for the same level of insurance coverage under individual policy plans. One study found the disparity can be as high as 48%, the Post reports. A similar study in 2008 by the National Women's Law Center found that only 10 states prohibit gender rating (Washington Post, 9/19).

Using personal stories to illustrate her point, Obama said that women are "disproportionately affected by this issue because of the roles we play in our families." She said, "Women are affected because of the jobs we do in this economy. ... Women are more likely to work part-time, or work in small businesses, jobs that don't always provide health insurance," adding, "Women are affected because in many states, insurance companies can still discriminate because of gender."

She pledged that under the Obama administration's health plan, "insurance companies will no longer be able to drop your coverage when you get too sick, or refuse to pay for the care you need, or set a cap on the amount of coverage you can get." She continued, "And it will limit how much they can charge you for out-of-pocket expenses. Because getting sick in this country shouldn't mean that you go bankrupt." She also noted that because of the higher premiums that women often are charged, "more than half of women report putting off needed medical care because they can't afford it" (Henderson, Politico, 9/18).

Obama called on the event's attendees to "mobilize like you've never mobilized before" to help educate others about the president's health reform plan. "No longer can we sit by and watch the debate take on a life of its own," the first lady said, adding, "It is up to us to get involved, because what we have to remember is that now more than ever, we have to channel our passions into change" (Rhee, Boston Globe, 9/19).

Marcia Greenberger, founder and co-president of NWLC, said, "Putting this effort into the long context of struggles that women's organizations have made was very moving and very true." She added, "She made the case, I have to say, in a way that I thought was more compelling than I ever had heard it made before" (Washington Post, 9/19).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women's Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women's Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.

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