page 6  yale daily news  ·  wednesday, october 14, 2009  ·  yaledailynews.

com

Science & Technology

By ROY LEE to the health care debate is the idea that

CONTRIBUTING REPORTER
As health care reform muddled
through Congress Tuesday, Rep. Rosa
DeLauro and women’s health experts
spoke about the discrimination women
face from health insurance companies.
DeLauro, who talked before a group
of about 25 at the Graduate Club on Elm
Street, said women’s issues have been
left out of the debate in the media over
health care reform. But, if passed, the
health care bill will end many discrim-
inatory practices against women, she
said.
“These are important women’s issues
that haven’t seen the light of day in the
media,” DeLauro said.
The health care bill, she explained,
will end health insurance companies’
discriminatory practices such as gen-
der rating, in which women pay up to 48
percent more on similar health insur-
ance policies than men. The bill will also
stop health insurance companies from
disqualifying people who have preex-
isting conditions from receiving health
coverage; women who face domestic
violence or have Cesarean sections are
currently disqualified under these pro-
visions, DeLauro said.
DeLauro, who represents Connecti-
cut’s Third Congressional District, said
she expects the health care bill — pro-
jected to cost $829 billion over 10 years
— to pass by the end of the calendar
year.
Yale School of Medicine profes-
sor Carolyn Mazure, who spoke after
DeLauro, said women cost more to
insure than men because they are more
likely to receive ineffective care at doc-
tors’ offices and hospitals. But research
studies on health issues have typically
focused on men’s experiences, while
women have been understudied.
Teresa Younger, the executive direc-
tor of the Connecticut General Assem-
bly’s Permanent Standing Committee
on the Status of Women, said central
women have access to reproductive
care.
“Women must be able to choose
when to start their own families,”
Younger said.
Three people in attendance said they
were in support of DeLauro’s advocacy
for women’s health issues. New Haven
resident Susan McLaughlin said women
often get short shrift among political
leaders.
“There is a bias in leadership of this
country against women,” McLaughlin
said.
Elizabeth Cafarella, the public pol-
icy director at the Connecticut Sexual
Assault Crisis Services Inc., said she
attended the forum to get an overview
of the progress of the health care legis-
lation in Congress.
Several hours after DeLauro spoke,
the Senate Finance Committee voted
14–9 to approve a version of the health
care reform bill. This version of the
bill, spearheaded by Sen. Max Baucus
D-Mont., represents an effort to build
bipartisan consensus on health care
reform, so its passage is a significant
step forward.
Contact ROY LEE at roy.c.lee@yale.edu .
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