IV 
110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 400 
Expressing the support of the Congress regarding the need to ensure health 
care for women and health care for all in national health care reform. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 31, 2008 
Ms. SCHAKOWSKY (for herself, Mr. HODES, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Mrs. CAPPS, 
Ms. SCHWARTZ, Ms. LINDA T. SA´NCHEZ of California, Mr. WAXMAN, Ms. 
DELAURO, Ms. SOLIS, Mr. ROTHMAN, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Ms. NORTON, 
Ms. CASTOR, Ms. MCCOLLUM of Minnesota, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. HIN-
CHEY, Ms. BORDALLO, Ms. EDWARDS of Maryland, Ms. SHEA-PORTER, 
Ms. SUTTON, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. 
BISHOP of Georgia, Ms. BALDWIN, and Mr. STARK) submitted the fol-
lowing concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
Energy and Commerce 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Expressing the support of the Congress regarding the need 
to ensure health care for women and health care for 
all in national health care reform. 
Whereas women are the health care decision-makers for 
themselves and their families; 
Whereas women want affordable health care they can count 
on throughout life transitions: starting a family, job 
changes, part-time and full-time work, divorce, caring for 
an elderly or sick family member, having a major disease, 
retiring; 
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•HCON 400 IH 
Whereas women with good health coverage worry about keep-
ing their coverage and their providers; 
Whereas women are more likely to seek essential preventive 
and routine care, are more likely to have a chronic health 
condition, and are more likely to take a prescription drug 
on a daily basis; 
Whereas women pay 68 percent more than men for out-of- 
pocket medical costs, due in large part to reproductive 
health care needs; 
Whereas more than half of the underinsured (53 percent) and 
two-thirds of the uninsured (68 percent) forgo needed 
care and about half of the underinsured (45 percent) and 
uninsured (51 percent) report difficulty paying medical 
bills; 
Whereas in 2004, one in six women with individual coverage 
reported postponing or going without needed care be-
cause she could not afford it; 
Whereas high-deductible health plans are often targeted to 
young women as an inexpensive health coverage option, 
but fail to cover pregnancy-related care, the most expen-
sive health event most young families face and the lead-
ing cause for hospital stays; 
Whereas 75,000,000 adults (42 percent of the under-65 pop-
ulation) had either no insurance or inadequate insurance 
in 2007, up from 35 percent in 2003; 
Whereas 47,000,000 people, nearly 16 percent of the United 
States population are uninsured, including 17,000,000 
adult women ages 18–64 (18 percent) and 9,000,000 
children (12 percent); 
Whereas the Institute of Medicine estimated that lack of 
health insurance coverage resulted in 18,000 excess 
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deaths in the United States in 2000 (a number which the 
Urban Institute estimates grew to 22,000 by 2006) and 
that acquiring health insurance reduces mortality rates 
for the uninsured by 10 to 15 percent; 
Whereas uninsured women with breast cancer are 30 to 50 
percent more likely to die from the disease, and unin-
sured women are 3 times less likely to have had a Pap 
test in the last three years, with a 60 percent greater risk 
of late-stage cervical cancer; 
Whereas 13 percent of all pregnant women are uninsured, 
making them less likely to seek prenatal care in the first 
trimester and to receive the optimal number of visits dur-
ing their pregnancy and 31 percent more likely to experi-
ence an adverse health outcome after giving birth; 
Whereas the lack or inadequate use of prenatal care is associ-
ated with pregnancy-related mortality 2 to 3 times higher 
and infant mortality 6 times higher than that of women 
receiving early prenatal care, as well as increased risk of 
low birth weight and preterm birth; 
Whereas heart disease is the leading cause of death for both 
women and men, but women are less likely to receive life-
style counseling, diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, 
and cardiac rehabilitation and more likely to die or have 
a second heart attack, demonstrating inequalities in ac-
cess to care; 
Whereas health care disparities persist, leaving Hispanic and 
Native American women and children 3 times and Afri-
can-Americans nearly twice as likely to be uninsured than 
non-Hispanic whites; 
Whereas in 2005, nearly 80 percent of the female population 
with HIV was black or Hispanic and HIV/AIDS inci-
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