Go to Content Go to Navigation Go to Navigation Go to Site Search Homepage

Planned Parenthood applauded the Department of Health and Human Services for a new report, released during National Women’s Health Week, which highlights the impact of the nation’s health care crisis on women--particularly women of childbearing age. The report, titled "Roadblocks to Health Care: Why the Current Health Care System does not work for Women" states that "women are more vulnerable to high health care costs… women’s reproductive health requires more regular contact with health care providers, including yearly Pap test, mammograms, and obstetric care." 

 

“This report highlights the critical need to assure that quality, affordable reproductive health care for both women and men is included as part of any health reform effort”, said Linda McCarthy, MBPP Executive Director.  These services are critically important to the 18,000 people (1 in 15 residents in Whatcom, Skagit and San Juan Counties) utilizing MBPP services each year.

 

As the HHS report states, women are more vulnerable to high health care costs because women’s reproductive health requires more regular contact with health care providers, including yearly Pap test, mammograms, and obstetric care. Planned Parenthood health centers in Washington State are seeing an increase in patients who have lost their jobs, health insurance or who no longer have the money to pay for lifesaving medical care. Some women are deferring annual exams including preventive cancer screenings, buying fewer cycles of contraception, and increasing longer-acting contraceptive methods.

 

These tough economic times are especially difficult for women struggling to pay for basic health care. According to the Women's Research and Education Institute, women of childbearing age spend 68 percent more in out-of-pocket health care costs than men, in part because of reproductive health-related supplies and services. A recent survey conducted for the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists found that women are delaying their annual exams as a result of the economic downturn. And a Kaiser Family Foundation report shows roughly 16.7 million women are uninsured, and thus likely to postpone care and delay or forgo important preventive care such as cancer screenings.

 

Family planning centers, like Mt. Baker Planned Parenthood, serve as an entry point for millions of women. Guttmacher reports that six in 10 clients consider family planning centers their main source of health care. Oftentimes, it is their first interaction with the country’s health care system.

Stephanie Kountouros, Public Policy Coordinator: 360-603-7705

###

Mt. Baker Planned Parenthood has proudly been providing healthcare services for women, men, and teenagers in communities throughout Whatcom, Skagit, and San Juan Counties since 1969. Services include HIV and STD testing and treatment; HIV counseling and referrals; HPV vaccine; pregnancy testing; all methods of birth control; cervical cancer screening; testicular, gynecological, and breast exams.

Source

Mt. Baker Planned Parenthood

Contact

Report Highlights Roadblocks for Women in Current Health Care System

Published

May 15, 2009

We and our third partners use cookies and other tools to collect, store, monitor, and analyze information about your interaction with our site to improve performance, analyze your use of our sites and assist in our marketing efforts. You may opt out of the use of these cookies and other tools at any time by visiting Cookie Settings. By clicking “Allow All Cookies” you consent to our collection and use of such data, and our Terms of Use. For more information, see our Privacy Notice.

Cookie Settings

We, and our third-party partners, use cookies, pixels, and other tracking technologies to collect, store, monitor, and process certain information about you when you access and use our services, read our emails, or otherwise engage with us. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences, or your device. We use that information to make the site work, analyze performance and traffic on our website, to provide a more personalized web experience, and assist in our marketing efforts. We also share information with our social media, advertising, and analytics partners. You can change your default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of required cookies when utilizing our site; this includes necessary cookies that help our site to function (such as remembering your cookie preference settings). For more information, please see our Privacy Notice.

Marketing

On

We use online advertising to promote our mission and help constituents find our services. Marketing pixels help us measure the success of our campaigns.

User Feedback and Session Replay

On

We use qualitative data from LogRocket, UserZoom, Hotjar and AB Tasty to learn about your user experience and improve our products and services. LogRocket allows us to view session replays.