Women's Health Care Should Be a National Priority

By Delthia Ricks, Ms. Magazine. Posted July 6, 2009.

Obama is specific about what he wants to create: a health-care system that is streamlined throughout, incorporates electronic databases for medical records and drug prescribing, emphasizes prevention and eliminates the use of emergency rooms for primary care. The centerpiece of the system is affordable access for everybody. That strikes a note of optimism for Victor-Taylor. “The main reason I am looking for a job is to have health-care benefits,” she says. “I’ll get a small pension when I am 65 so I am not as worried about retirement. I am most concerned about what happens if I got sick.”

While the U.S. leads the world in health-care spending, it remains among the only industrialized nations where a vast proportion of the population is chronically uninsured. Economists in the Office of Management and Budget estimate health-care costs, public and private, run up to $2.4 trillion annually and are on the rise, consuming 17 percent of the nation’s gross national product.

Medical costs have grown so high that it’s no longer just catastrophic care that worries families. Many are cutting back on lower-budget medical needs as well. A Kaiser Family Foundation study released in February found that in the previous 12 months Americans were more likely to avoid getting prescriptions filled because they considered medication costs too high. Those who did fill prescriptions were more likely to split pills or skip doses to make the medicine last longer. Others shied away from needed dental care because of costs, and still others treated themselves with folk remedies and drugstore preparations because the cost of seeing a physician was too expensive.

Unless reform happens now, adds Julie Pinkham, executive director of the Massachusetts Nurses Association, America will have failed its citizens on the most important aspect of life: the right to good health. Pleased that healthcare reform has garnered a bright spotlight, Pinkham warns, “Now it’s up to our generation, and if we can’t figure it out we really should be embarrassed.”

For the full version of this article, pick up a copy of the Spring 2009 issue of Ms. on newsstands, or have a copy sent to your door by joining the Ms. community at www.msmagazine.com.

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Delthia Ricks is a staff writer for Newsday specializing in health and science issues.

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