Founded in 1971 as the Women's Legal Defense Fund, the National Partnership works to improve access to quality health care through research and analysis, public education, advocacy, and legal strategies. The National Partnership is a leading voice in the effort to ensure that women and families receive quality health care through their health insurance plans, including their managed care plans. Women have a tremendous stake in how the Department resolves the issues raised by this proposed rule. In a variety of ways, women interact more with the health care system than men, and they need this system to be responsive to their needs.
Women use more health care services than men.
Women make most of the health care decisions for their families, including their children and elderly relatives, and control most of the family health care dollars. Women also have unique health care needs that include, but are not limited to, their reproductive health needs. There is a growing body of new research indicating that women and men with the same underlying condition do not necessarily have the same symptoms or the same risk factors. Recent research shows that women in particular will benefit from improved decision-making processes. A new study analyzing calls to the Health Rights Hotline in the Sacramento, California, area showed that women were twice as likely as men to report having problems with their health plans, whether it was a denial of care, a payment dispute, a delay in getting care, or some other problem.