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Rally for Reform That Works for Women and Families

Washington, DC – November 4, 2009 – The National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) rallied people across the country in a “Women’s Day of Action” to show broad support for health care reform that works for women and families.

NWLC’s “Women’s Day of Action” is part of its nationwide campaign, Being A Woman Is Not A Pre-Existing Condition, which educates women about the disparities they face in our health care system and urges them to contact their Members of Congress to demand health reform legislation that is comprehensive, fair, and affordable.

“We want women to know that health care reform isn't something that should be debated only in Washington – because it affects women everywhere,” said NWLC Co-President Marcia D. Greenberger. “That's why we’re taking our campaign outside the Beltway and bringing it to the women and families whose lives are affected the most. Women need to make their voices heard and speak out to demand health care reform that works for women.”

As part of the campaign, NWLC released a new report: Still Nowhere to Turn: Insurance Companies Treat Women Like a Pre-existing Condition, which found that nearly all (95%) of the best-selling individual insurance plans it surveyed, in the capitals of all 50 states, practice gender rating – in which insurance companies charge women more than men for the same coverage.

Other obstacles that women face include being denied coverage because of ‘pre-existing conditions,’ such as previously giving birth via C-Section or being a survivor of domestic violence, struggling with cost-related problems with getting access to health care, and difficulty finding coverage for maternity care when purchasing their own health insurance plan directly from insurance companies.

The “Women’s Day of Action” events include: 

• A 12-hour (9 am-9 pm EST) vigil in Dupont Circle in Washington, DC featuring readings of women’s personal health care stories from around country;

• House parties and trivia night events across the country to highlight the disparities women face in the health insurance system; and

• A nationwide online action to rally women and organizations to contact Members of Congress to demand health care reform that works for women.

On Thursday, actress Elizabeth Banks (“Scrubs,” “Role Models,” “W”) will join Ms. Greenberger at a Los Angeles press conference to raise awareness about the inequalities women face in health care coverage and help rally them to action.

Organizations demonstrating the broad participation in the DC vigil include Americans for Democratic Action, Coalition for Human Needs, Moms Rising, PHI Health Care for Health Care Workers, Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health, Raising Women’s Voices, and Young Invincibles.

For more information on the campaign and on the Women’s Day of Action, visit: www.AWomanIsNotaPreExistingCondition.com.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL WOMEN’S LAW CENTER:

The National Women's Law Center is a non-profit organization that has been working since 1972 to advance and protect women's legal rights.  The Center focuses on major policy areas of importance to women and their families including economic security, education, employment and health, with special attention given to the concerns of low-income women.  For more information on the Center, visit:  www.nwlc.org.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Deborah Darrell and Steve Schonberg, LaForce + Stevens

(212) 242-9353; Darrell cell: 646-246-7582; Schonberg cell: 646-942-3033

DDarrell@LaForce-Stevens.com; Sschonberg@LaForce-Stevens.com

Adrienne Ammerman or Karen Schneider

National Women’s Law Center

(202) 588-5180

AAmmerman@nwlc.org; KSchneider@nwlc.org

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