[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 3] [House] [Page 3708] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]HEALTH CARE REFORM The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Capps) is recognized for 5 minutes. Mrs. CAPPS. Mr. Speaker, I rise on behalf of America's women to urge passage of health care reform to benefit our mothers, our sisters, our daughters, our families, and our friends. And, of course, when we pass health care reform, we will improve health care for all Americans. But today I would like to concentrate on why women stand to gain the most. Right now, being a woman is reason enough for insurance companies to discriminate against us. Today, women are being charged higher insurance premiums than men simply for being a woman. Our legislation will put an end to this practice by prohibiting a practice known as gender rating whereby women are automatically charged higher rates. Right now, there are women who have been victims of domestic violence who are denied health insurance coverage because insurance companies have said that domestic violence is a preexisting condition. Our legislation will put an end to this practice and expressly prohibit insurance companies from considering domestic violence a preexisting condition. Right now, many women can only obtain an insurance policy that excludes maternity coverage. Our legislation will put an end to this practice by requiring coverage for maternity care. These three provisions alone will help millions of women in this country. Mr. Speaker, as a public health nurse, I'm particularly enthusiastic about provisions in the bill to eliminate cost sharing for some of the most important preventive services that women should be accessing. And, of course, this provision is important for men as well. But many of us, especially Members of Congress who already have comprehensive health insurance, take it for granted that we are going to get routine checkups. There are, however, too many women who forgo screenings for conditions like cervical cancer or heart disease because they can't afford these screenings, either because they are uninsured or their insurance company requires prohibitive copays for routine screening. The legislation we will soon pass will ensure that there is no cost for patients to be accessing the most important screenings which are recommended by medical experts. Those of us in the public health community have long been advocating this because costs should never stand in the way of lifesaving screening procedures. In addition to the ways our legislation will benefit individual women, it's important to keep in mind that women are often the health care decisionmakers for their households. And that's why we all have reason to be so hopeful about how our bill will improve health care for families as a whole. Insurance premiums for families have risen at alarming rates over the past decade and will continue to rise if we don't enact health reform now. Middle class families especially have shouldered this burden as the rise in premiums has far outpaced any rise in wages. The announcement, for example, by Anthem in California that it will raise premiums by up to 40 percent is just one of the latest outrages. When premiums become too expensive to pay, families are forced to drop coverage. And then what happens when someone in the family gets sick? They are forced to spend down all their assets until eventually bankruptcy may become their only option. Mr. Speaker, over half of all bankruptcies in the United States today are caused by medical debt. And in 2008, over 900 families in my congressional district alone were forced into bankruptcy because of medical debt. And over half of these medical bankruptcies impact a woman. {time} 1730 When we pass this legislation, we will put an end to the annual and lifetime limits on coverage that many insurance companies currently impose on people. And we will put an end to bankruptcies caused by medical debt. No longer will families have to raid their savings for a home purchase or college tuition because someone falls ill. Finally, as a mother and a grandmother, I couldn't be more thrilled by the steps we will take to improve health care coverage for our country's most precious resource, our children. We will ensure that the Children's Health Insurance Program will thrive. We will ensure that services like vision and dental care for children are automatically included in all health care plans. When the bill is signed into law, that very day it will immediately prevent health insurers from imposing preexisting condition exclusions on children. And it will immediately allow young adults to remain on their parents' health insurance plan until their mid-20s so they aren't forced to forego health coverage after college graduation. So I urge all of my colleagues to support our efforts in health care reform with the knowledge of how it will help the women in their lives and in their communities. ____________________