Equal access to health care services is a top priority for Washington State NOW. Although women are the primary decision-makers regarding health care for their families, it is often women’s health care issues that are ignored or overlooked. From breast cancer treatment to birth control options, these areas have played second string to "more important" issues like prostate cancer and impotence. The research field is a good illustration of gender bias in the health care arena. Although heart disease has always been a serious risk for women, science is just now getting around to realizing that heart disease in women often manifests itself in symptoms very different from the "traditional" systems shown in men. A recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that women had subtler symptoms, such as nausea instead of chest pain. Although women have a 70% higher death rate in the first month after a heart attack, science has yet to figure out why.
Gender bias can also be found in access to health care. By this, we mean the extent to which women have the opportunity to access currently available services. Birth control is a prime example of this. Recent studies have shown that less than half of all medical plans cover prescription birth control. How disappointing it was when insurance plans rushed to cover "Viagra" when it became available.
The 1999 legislative session promises lots of action in the health care arena. Items that NOW will be paying particular attention to:
2. Making birth control and maternity coverage mandatory benefits in health care policies. Currently there are a number of "mandated benefits" that insurance companies and HMOs are required to cover in all of their health plans. Neither birth control nor maternity coverage is included in these mandates. This means that insurance companies and HMOs can market, and employers can buy, health plans that do not cover either of these things. While mandated either one of these benefits may increase premiums it may also decrease unintended pregnancies, and pregnancies that go without prenatal care - Both of which have a great economic impact on our society and will save money in the long run.
3. Services for chemically depended women and their children. The state of Washington is ahead of many states in providing drug and alcohol treatment priorities to pregnant and parenting women, but more needs to be done. Some of the best options to pursue include: a continuum of services and case management; specialized in-patient treatment; therapeutic child development and family support services; improved access to family planning; and training for health care providers.
4. Unfettered access to the full range of reproductive
services. Washington State NOW will defend
a woman’s right to choose, opposing any attempts to weaken current law
as passed in Initiative 120.