Niki Tsongas: “I rise today because our health care status quo simply does not work for older women and must be changed. The rising…”

“I rise today because our health care status quo simply does not work for older women and must be changed. The rising cost of health care and the lack of access to essential medical services is a problem for millions of Americans throughout our Nation, but it is uniquely so for older women. Times of economic hardship like we are now facing truly illustrate the impact that our inadequate health care system has on older women. Older women disproportionately rely on their spouses for employer-based coverage in comparison to their younger counterparts and in comparison to older men. That is why over 1 million of them have lost health insurance due to a spouse's job loss during the economic downturn. When an older woman loses her health insurance, it is even harder for her to find health insurance in the individual market, where there is little to no regulation, than her male counterparts. Older women, because of a combination of gender rating, age rating, and discrimination based on health status, face premiums that are roughly four times greater than those who have employer-based coverage.”