Healthcare policy in the United States has always been a controversial issue. In 2010, when the Affordable Care Act was passed into legislation, it finally seemed lower and middle-income families would be granted with affordable health insurance. However, after the end of Obama’s term in 2016 and the election of Donald Trump into office, the ACA is being met with major opposition from the Republicans, Democrats, and the American people. Although Congress has attempted to negotiate several new drafts of the bill, they have neglected to include the perspectives and viewpoints of women. It is ironic many of the changes added to the bill will directly impact women, but they are grossly underrepresented on the legislative teams that are in charge of making the amendments. The changes being made to the Affordable Care Act will not only affect women but their families and spouses as well.  Policymakers have to realize that women are a crucial aspect of enacting an effective change to the healthcare bill which will allow it to be more inclusive of their needs and protect their rights. Without equal representation, women’s issues are not being properly presented, addressed, or resolved.

In the last century women have gained the legal right to purchase birth control, legally get abortions, and the right to vote. Despite these advances however, women are just now becoming regulars in having major political positions (Kurtzleben). Women make up only 19 percent of seats in the House and 20 percent in the Senate (Bump). Men make up 80.6 percent of seats in the House and 80 percent in the Senate (Bump). The 61 percent disparity between these two gender groups although unsurprising, is troublesome. This is because many bills and laws being implemented or trying to get passed in Congress directly affect women and their everyday lives. In order to effectively enact change women are needed on the legislative level because “Limited women’s involvement in the decision making at the legislative level has kept America back” (Donlan and Graves, 187).  Senate Republicans continue to “drastically change the current healthcare landscape” without any regard to the consequences, whether negative or positive, on women (Parks and Talwar).          

The reformed healthcare bill, if passed, promises notable changes, especially for women. The first change is significant cuts to Medicaid. In 2015, half of all births in the United States were covered by Medicaid (Parks and Talwar). Another term the bill states is that in order for Americans to remain eligible for Medicaid, women must return to work 60 days after giving birth (Parks and Talwar). A large number of women who have a low income depend on Medicaid and majority of the jobs they work do not provide health insurance but their voices are not heard due to the underrepresentation of women on leadership teams. The changes to the ACA would also defund Planned Parenthood for one year of all medical services (Parks and Talwar). This is consequential because women would not be reimbursed for the services at these clinics and estimates show defunding Planned Parenthood will most likely increase costs to the federal government (Parks and Talwar). If more women were involved in the legislation process of creating the bill, then the fact that Planned Parenthood administers 320,000 breast exams a year and over 80 percent of their clients seek information to prevent unintended pregnancies would be taken into account (Parks). Rather than turning to emergency rooms in hospitals, many women depend on going to Planned Parenthood for their health needs. A significant disadvantage of the Senate bill would be states having the option of getting rid of regulations which cover maternity care. Again, a women’s voice matters, significantly especially in this case to advocate for states to cover maternity care so mothers won’t have to choose between going back to work early or taking care of their child. Another provision of the Senate bill is prohibiting women from using their tax credits to buy insurance plans that would cover abortion services. Unless it is a case of rape, incest, or necessary to save the life of the mother, then these regulations would not apply. The financial means to afford an abortion are not available to many women so health insurance provides a way for women to pay for the service without going bankrupt (Parks). The disadvantage of this policy, if passed, is that other health insurance plans will no longer see the benefit in covering abortion services, which will limit women’s access even further. As Senator Kamala Harris tweeted, “The GOP is crafting policy on an issue that directly impacts women without including a single woman in the process” (qtd. in Mcgregor). If more women become a part of Congress and actively participate in amending and passing the legislation on healthcare, their voices would not only be heard but advocated for in Congress.     

Political decisions, especially those pertaining to healthcare have a strong male bias. Men are in charge of creating the policies which will determine a women’s access to contraception, abortion services, and length of their maternity care. As mentioned before, a major provision being added to the healthcare bill involving Medicaid policy is that mothers would have to return to work 60 days after giving birth. In countries such as Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom, the length of maternity or paternity leave is over 100 days with pay. (Hall and Spurlock). As of 2010 the U.S was the only industrialized nation to not guarantee paid maternity leave but 3 states; California, New Jersey, and Rhode Island, do provide paid maternity leave (Hall and Spurlock). Vicki Donlan and Helen Graves, authors of Her Turn, claim “So much rhetoric is espoused by politicians about the importance of family values, yet little if anything is done to protect employees from being exploited during the most critical moments in their family lives” (187). Congressmen are unable to see the benefit of paid maternity leave because many of them are not actively involved in the process. If more congresswomen were involved in amending the bill, then they will be able to advocate the pros of paid maternity leave for women who work. 

The debate of abortion services in the healthcare bill is also one-sided. Considering many of the men making these decisions will never be able to experience having a child they do not have the understanding of what it means to have the option of getting an abortion or not. Recently numerous activist participated in a ‘Handmaids Tale’ protest in Denver, Colorado against Vice President Pence’s anti-abortion campaign. The significance of the Handmaid protest was to demonstrate women being treated as property rather than human beings, thus proclaiming Pence wanted to send women back to the 1950s before many of their rights were granted (Gabbatt). By having more women represented in the decision-making process of abortion services then both sides of pro-choice and pro-life can be properly represented and debated while including an empathetic viewpoint.   

Blake Farenthold, republican lawmaker from Texas, blames “female senators” for the GOP’s failure to repeal Obamacare. Three female senators, Susan Collins, Shelley Moore, Lisa Murkowski, are against the GOP’s proposal to dismantle the affordable care act. However, opposition to the healthcare proposals also comes from male senators within the Republican party. The last version of the healthcare plan, “would leave 22 million more uninsured by 2026…repealing the healthcare law without a replacement would result in 32 million people losing health insurance over the next 10 years” (Siddiqui).  By opposing the new proposal these female senators have proven that their voices do matter in Congress and with more representation women will be able to enact changes to the healthcare bill which will be inclusive of women’s wants and needs.  

Women senators currently serving in Congress have also provided significant advancement to protect the rights of women regarding changes to Obamacare. For example, Senator Elizabeth Warren is against the repeal of the Affordable Care Act. Her platform includes preventing insurance discrimination against women. The Trump administration issued a new rule that will allow any employer to decide to not provide their employees with health insurance coverage for birth control. This mandate will affect birth control coverage for 62 million women. Vice president of public policy for Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Dana Singiser, voiced “This rule is about taking away women’s fundamental health care, plain and simple” (qtd. in Levintova).  The inclusion of more Congresswomen to battle these kinds of policies will ensure that women’s legal rights to birth control will be protected. Senator Susan Collins’ vote against the recent repeal of Obamacare helped to prevent the bill from passing. Collins also proposed approaching reforms in a careful manner. She proposes “…going through the regular process of committee hearings, receiving input from expert witnesses, such as advocacy groups and health-care providers” (qtd. in Cassidy). Collins recognizes the importance of including the input of health-care providers and advocacy groups to improve the healthcare bill for all Americans. Collins and Warren are prime examples of what having more women in Congress can accomplish not only for themselves but American families as well.  

Without women’s involvement in the political processes not much can be accomplished, especially concerning healthcare. In 1992, otherwise known as the Year of the Women, where 47 women were elected into the U.S senate. As explained by authors Vicki Donlan and Helen Graves: 

For the first time in American history, six women served in the Senate. In their first year in Congress, these women got thirty pieces of legislation passed. In their second year, another thirty-three legislative actions were approved. The record for any year before this was five. It should be clear from this recounting of history, that with more women serving in Congress, a new perspective and initiative should move forward (36).  

With more women in Congress, this pushed their demographic to go out and vote as well as actively participate in politics rather than remain in the background. Women felt more empowered and truly believed their votes would actually matter because they achieved significant representation that was not there before. Such historical precedents show that women have the ability to enact drastic change in Congress to pass healthcare legislation that recognizes their needs.  

There is a lack of women in executive and leadership positions within healthcare organizations. Martha Hauser, Southern Region healthcare practice leader, found in her research that “24% of senior executives-18% of hospital CEOs-are women” (318). These percentages are significant considering women make up 74% of the workforce in the healthcare field (Hauser, 318). If women are unable to lead in the healthcare field, this could prevent from having a strong influence on the changes being made to Obamacare. Women can be emotionally charged with their decisions and rather than making them for the whole could be personally driven but white males in Congress now cannot relate or be empathetic towards some women because they will never be able to experience what they have to go through so they are not the right people to have the final say so when it comes to what women need for healthcare.      

Healthcare is a complex topic. Donald Trump himself stated, “Nobody knew that health care could be so complicated” (qtd. in Mankiw). The American people have trouble understanding healthcare due to healthcare spending being expensive and unexpected and the insured consumers overconsuming. Consumers are also unsure of what kind of healthcare they need. This is why it is crucial the reformed healthcare bill provides the necessary care and protection for all groups regardless of socioeconomic status, gender, or race. The American people and members of Congress must be able to understand and recognize the complicated factors that envelope healthcare in order to properly amend the bill. As Andrea Flynn, an Economic Policy Fellow at the Roosevelt Institute said, “It’s not just a women’s issue. It’s a family issue” (qtd. in Parks and Talwar). In order to maximize the benefits of health care for all Americans and minimize the costs, the gender imbalance in legislation must be accounted for and changed because these policies not only affect women but their families as well.

Women’s voices are missing from the healthcare debate which has only hindered the passing of the revised healthcare bill. Although women make up majority of the population in the United States, they are grossly underrepresented in Congress. Their opinions, perspectives, and ideas are not being heard or advocated for. Many of the changes being made to the bill will not only directly affect women but their spouses and children as well. Congressmen have to realize the changes they make will affect them just as much as their wives, sisters, aunts, grandmothers, and daughters now and in the future. This is why it is immensely important for members of Congress to include women on their Senate leadership teams so their voices can be appropriately represented without a man’s influence or bias. Women are more than capable of passing legislation as proven during the Year of the Women but they must now take the reins and continue to push their way into a field dominated by men. Equal representation is needed so the changes being made or new policies being added to the healthcare bill will be more inclusive of women’s wants and needs. 
