Women need to be fairly represented in clinical trials. Providers need to be appropriately trained in the differences between men and women in the onset, diagnosis and treatment of diseases. Health plans need to do more with respect to women's outcome research and medical conditions specific to women. I look forward to working with Senator Jeffords in this Congress to pass legislation that will provide comprehensive patient protections for all Americans. Another key issue for women is access to health services.
Women are twice as likely as men to be under-insured.
Because of their lower incomes, part-time work status, and dependence on health coverage through their husbands, fourteen million women of childbearing age have no medical coverage. Minority women are even more likely to be poor and to lack medical insurance. The consequences are disturbing. Studies consistently show that when mothers receive no prenatal care or little prenatal care or late prenatal care, their children are at higher risk for premature birth and low birth weight. According to a study of insurance coverage and breast cancer, women with inadequate insurance or no insurance had more advanced cancer at the time of diagnosis and lower survival rates than women with adequate insurance.