How we balance these concerns will have a far-reaching impact on all Americans. Women's health hangs in the balance we ultimately strike between cost and quality. Both women and men care about health care quality, but women have a greater stake in the outcome of our nation's evolving health care system. Women spend most of our health care dollars. Women are the majority of enrollees in managed care plans.
Women have unique health care needs that include, but go beyond, reproductive health.
But in the past few years, this potential has been eclipsed by concerns that health plans' interest in controlling costs could compromise the quality of care they provide. Health plans need to meet basic standards that help women get the best care available. That means recognizing gender differences in symptoms, in the occurrence of diseases, and in responses to treatments. It also means improving access to the range of services women want and need. And it means providing women with meaningful information on the plan's performance so that they can make the best health care decisions for themselves and their families.