IV 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 48 
Expressing the sense of Congress that national health care reform should 
ensure that the health care needs of women and of all individuals in 
the United States are met. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 11, 2009 
Ms. SCHAKOWSKY (for herself, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Ms. 
BORDALLO, Mrs. CAPPS, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. 
HINCHEY, Mr. HODES, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of 
California, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. NADLER of New York, Mr. SCOTT of 
Virginia, Ms. SHEA-PORTER, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. STARK, Ms. SUTTON, 
Mrs. NAPOLITANO, and Mr. MCGOVERN) submitted the following concur-
rent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 
Commerce 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of Congress that national health care 
reform should ensure that the health care needs of 
women and of all individuals in the United States are 
met. 
Whereas women often make health care decisions for them-
selves and their families; 
Whereas women have expressed a desire to have affordable 
health care on which they can depend throughout their 
lives and through life transitions, including starting a 
family, changing jobs, working part-time or full-time, di-
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•HCON 48 IH 
vorce, caring for an elderly or sick family member, having 
a major disease, and retirement; 
Whereas women with good health care coverage worry about 
maintaining such coverage and keeping their health care 
providers; 
Whereas women are more likely than men to seek essential 
preventive and routine care, to have a chronic health con-
dition, and 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 approximately 53 percent of underinsured individ-
uals, and 68 percent of uninsured individuals, forgo need-
ed care and approximately 45 percent of underinsured in-
dividuals, and 51 percent of uninsured individuals, report 
difficulty paying medical bills; 
Whereas, in 2004, 1 in 6 women with individual health care 
coverage reported that they postponed, or went without, 
needed health care because they could not afford such 
health care; 
Whereas high-deductible health insurance plans often are 
marketed to young women as an inexpensive health care 
coverage option, but such plans often fail to cover preg-
nancy-related care, the most expensive health care event 
most young families face and the leading cause of hos-
pital stays for young women; 
Whereas, in 2007, 42 percent of the under-65 population in 
the United States, approximately 75,000,000 adults, had 
either no insurance or inadequate insurance, up from 35 
percent in 2003; 
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Whereas nearly 16 percent of people in the United States 
(approximately 47,000,000 people) are uninsured, includ-
ing 18 percent of adult women aged 18 to 64 (approxi-
mately 17,000,000 women) and 12 percent of children 
(approximately 9,000,000 children); 
Whereas the Institute of Medicine estimated that, in 2000, 
lack of health care coverage resulted in 18,000 excess 
deaths in the United States (a number that the Urban 
Institute estimated grew to 22,000 by 2006) and esti-
mated that acquiring health insurance reduces mortality 
rates for previously uninsured individuals by 10 to 15 
percent; 
Whereas women rely on women’s health care providers 
throughout their lives, for comprehensive primary and 
preventive care, surgical care, and treatment and man-
agement of both acute and long-term health problems; 
Whereas a ‘‘medical home’’ should ensure each woman direct 
access to women’s health care providers and care coordi-
nation throughout her lifetime; 
Whereas uninsured women with breast cancer are 30 to 50 
percent more likely than insured women with breast can-
cer to die from the disease, and uninsured women are 3 
times less likely than insured women to have had a Pap 
test in the last 3 years, putting uninsured women at 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 of their pregnancies, less likely to receive the 
optimal number of prenatal health care visits during their 
pregnancies, and 31 percent more likely to experience an 
adverse health outcome after giving birth; 
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Whereas the lack, or inadequate receipt, of prenatal care is 
associated with pregnancy-related mortality 2 to 3 times 
higher, and infant mortality 6 times higher, than that of 
women receiving early prenatal care, and also is associ-
ated with an 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 than men to 
receive lifestyle counseling, diagnostic and therapeutic 
procedures, and cardiac rehabilitation and are more likely 
to die or have a second heart attack, demonstrating in-
equalities between women and men in access to health 
care; 
Whereas persisting health care disparities also are evident in 
that Hispanic and Native American women and children 
are 3 times as likely, and African-American women are 
nearly twice as likely, to be uninsured than non-Hispanic 
white women; 
Whereas, in 2005, nearly 80 percent of the female population 
with HIV/AIDS was African-American or Hispanic, and 
HIV/AIDS incidence rates are dramatically higher for Af-
rican-American and Hispanic women and adolescents 
(60.2 and 15.8 per 100,000, respectively) than for white 
women and adolescents (3.0 per 100,000); 
Whereas women are less likely than men to receive health in-
surance through their employers and more likely than 
men to be insured as a dependent, making them more 
vulnerable than men to insurance loss in the event of di-
vorce or death of a spouse; 
Whereas 64 percent of uninsured women are in families with 
at least 1 adult working full-time; 
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Whereas health care costs are increasingly unaffordable for 
working families and employers, with employer-sponsored 
health insurance premiums having increased 87 percent 
between 2000 and 2006; 
Whereas the approximately 9,100,000 women-owned busi-
nesses in the United States employ 27,500,000 individ-
uals, contribute $3,600,000,000,000 to the economy, and 
face serious obstacles in obtaining affordable health care 
coverage for their employees; 
Whereas the lack of affordable health care coverage creates 
barriers for women who want to change jobs or create 
their own small businesses; 
Whereas health care professionals, a significant portion of 
which are women, have a stake in achieving reform that 
allows them to provide the highest quality of care for 
their patients; 
Whereas 56 percent of all health caregivers are women; 
Whereas although the United States spends twice as much on 
health care as the median industrialized nation, among 
the 30 developed nations of the Organisation for Eco-
nomic Co-operation and Development, the health care 
system of the United States ranks near the bottom on 
most measures of health status and ranks 37th in overall 
health performance among 191 nations; and 
Whereas the Institute of Medicine estimates that the cost of 
achieving full health insurance coverage in the United 
States would be less than the loss in economic produc-
tivity from existing coverage gaps: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That Congress— 
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(1) commits to passing, not later than 18 
months after the adoption of this resolution by Con-
gress, legislation that guarantees health care for 
women and all individuals and establishes coverage 
that enables women to attain good health that they 
can maintain during their reproductive years and 
throughout their lives and that— 
(A) recognizes the special role that women 
play as health care consumers, caregivers, and 
providers; 
(B) guarantees a level of benefits and care, 
including comprehensive reproductive health 
care, pregnancy-related care, and infant care, 
that is necessary to achieve and maintain good 
health throughout a woman’s lifetime and less-
en the burdens caused by poor health; 
(C) promotes primary and preventive care, 
including family planning, contraceptive equity, 
and care continuity; 
(D) provides a choice of public and private 
health insurance plans and direct access to a 
choice of health care providers to ensure con-
tinuity of coverage and a delivery system that 
meets the needs of women; 
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(E) eliminates health disparities in cov-
erage, treatment, and outcomes on the basis of 
gender, culture, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic 
status, health status, and sexual orientation; 
(F) shares responsibility for financing 
among employers, individuals, and the govern-
ment, while taking into account the needs of 
small businesses; 
(G) ensures that access to health care is 
affordable; 
(H) enhances health care quality and pa-
tient safety; 
(I) ensures a sufficient supply of qualified 
providers through expanded medical and public 
health education and adequate reimbursement; 
(J) ensures every woman access to a wom-
en’s ‘‘medical home’’, including direct access to 
women’s health care providers and care coordi-
nation, throughout each woman’s lifetime; 
(K) recognizes and promotes the role of 
women as providers of health care; and 
(L) promotes administrative efficiency, re-
duces unnecessary paperwork, and is easy for 
health care consumers and providers to use; 
and 
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