Page Title

By Public Policy Chair

Marilyn Treiman

halamari1@juno.com

Text Box: AAUW and the White House Celebrated Women's Equality Day On Wednesday, August 26, AAUW celebrated the 89th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which gave women the right to vote. President Obama issued a proclamation in honor of the day, and the White House also held a special conference call on Wednesday afternoon focusing on the White House Council on Women and Girls and health reform's impact on women. AAUW state and branch public policy chairs were invited to participate in the call. Tina Tchen, the executive director of the Council and the director of the Office of Public Liaison at the White House, updated listeners on the status of a federal interagency plan that will include an assessment of each federal agency's efforts to further the progress and advancement of women and girls. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was also on the call to talk about the impact that health reform will have on women and the administration's study on women and health care. Pro-Woman Initiatives Sidelined by Health Care Storm In the first few months of his administration, President Obama drew

Text Box: praise from women's groups for his efforts to advance pro-women initiatives and appointments. This included the signing of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the creation of the White House Council on Women and Girls. While the administration was off to a great start, Women's eNews reported that the progress has greatly slowed due to the all-encompassing frenzy over health care reform. Leadership vacancies still exist in departments that deal with women's issues, and the Senate has stalled on both the Paycheck Fairness Act and the Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act. However, the health care debate will likely continue to overshadow this and other women's issues at least through the fall. In a related commentary on women, Women's eNews, Dr. Linda Brodsky acknowledged that women still have a ways to go to achieve equity in the world of medicine and health care. Major issues affecting women's health care include the practice of "gender- rating" and the continued prevalence of discrimination within the medical community. Gender profiling is legal in most states and leads to women paying more for health coverage than men, causing many women

Text Box: to go without health care or delay measures for prevention. Insurance policies often lack coverage of maternity benefits. Female physicians earn less than their male counterparts-61 cents for each dollar a male physician earns-and are more likely to face sexual harassment and less likely to hold positions on medical journal editorial boards, leading to a lack of research on issues that affect women. A failure to fix these problems of gender inequity will ultimately damage the health care system as well as the overall health of the nation. ACTION: AAUW believes that health care is a basic right, and that women in the United States are in particular need of health reform legislation. Specifically, AAUW believes that any health reform legislation must include the following three tenets: an end to the practice of gender rating; coverage of reproductive health services; and access to and coverage of preventive services and care. If you haven't yet done so, urge your members of Congress to make these three critical pieces a part of the final health care reform bill. For more information, read AAUW's full position paper on health care.