Media

Today, the Department of Commerce reported economic growth of 5.9% for the last quarter of 2009 (up from its earlier estimate of 5.7%). This represents a large change in direction from when President Obama took office and the economy was shrinking by -6.4% and is another encouraging sign that actions by the Obama Administration and this Congress are working to turn the economy around:

"As we sit around this table, I think we should be mindful of what they do when they sit around their kitchen table. What we do here must be relevant to their lives. And for them, they don't have time for us to start over. Many of them are at the end of the line with their insurance, with their caps, with their this and that."

"I think it's really clear on one point that the American people understand very clearly, they understand that there should be an end to discrimination on the basis of pre-existing conditions. The proposals we have put forth end discrimination on the basis of pre-existing conditions, the Republican bill does not."

In our current health care system, women often face higher health costs than men and multiple other barriers to health insurance. Fewer women are eligible for employer-based coverage, and comprehensive coverage in the individual health care market is often unavailable or prohibitively expensive. In the individual insurance market, women face discrimination -- being charged substantially higher premiums for the same coverage as men or being denied coverage for such "pre-existing conditions" as pregnancy, having had a C-section, or being a victim of domestic violence. In a recent study, more than half of women -- compared with 39% of men -- reported delaying needed medical care due to cost.