“Your Mom,” Michelle and Maternity Care: Health Insurance Reform as a Women’s Issue

“Your Mom,” Michelle and Maternity Care: Health Insurance Reform as a Women’s Issue in Politics and Legislation

“I don’t need maternity care,” said Republican Jon Kyl last week during the Senate Finance Committee’s health care discussion.  

“Your mom probably did,” replied Democrat Debbie Stabenow. (See video below)

Zing! The two senators were debating an amendment by Kyl that would have prohibited the federal government from prescribing a minimum benefits package from all insurers, one that includes maternity care. (The amendment was defeated by a vote of 14 to 9.)

We couldn’t help but notice a few other instances where the overhaul of health care has been taking shape as a women’s issue: most notably in Michelle Obama’s speech from the White House a couple Fridays ago. Although absent from the debate until now, the first lady stepped forward to address the impact health insurance reform represents for women, calling it part of “the next step” in their advancement toward full opportunity and equality.

“Women aren’t just disproportionately affected by this issue because of the roles that we play in families,” Mrs. Obama said. “Women are affected because of the jobs that we do in this economy.”

Some of her key points included that:

• Women are more likely to work part-time or in small businesses or organizations that don’t provide insurance.
• In all but ten states, health insurance companies can still discriminate on the basis of gender.
• Women can be denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions such as having had a C-section, an experience of domestic violence, or being a mother (having had a baby).

For more on this subject, see our previous post on how 7 in 10 women are underinsured or have no health insurance or yesterday’s NY Times article by Nancy Folberg, Economics Professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, which deftly breaks down how women are economically disadvantaged by our current system.

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