For decades, women’s healthcare has been narrowly framed around reproduction and fertility, despite the reality that women’s health extends far beyond these boundaries. At the same time, women are expected to drive the economy, working, caregiving, and managing the health of their families, while the healthcare system continues to undervalue their needs.
Until 1985, women’s healthcare largely neglected the rest of the body, often dismissed as irrelevant to fertility. As a result, countless medical realities affecting women across their lifetimes went unreported and unanalyzed. It was not until the 1990s that women were required to participate in federal clinical trials, meaning that the medical field still lacks adequate knowledge about how many drugs and devices affect women differently than men. Thus, it is unsurprising that healthcare market investors have also continued to undervalue women’s health.
Women, alone, account for approximately 80% of health care decisions for their families, use medical services more frequently, and spend more out-of-pocket for medical care. Although the U.S. Public Health Service Task Force on Women’s Health Issues reported that women are more susceptible to certain diseases than men in many instances, the Task Force makes clear that it is even more imperative to have legislation, dialogue, and policies that work to educate and expand access to care. Unfortunately, women are more likely to die from cancer, suffer from menstrual disorders, are more susceptible to urinary tract infections, and die from diabetes, to name a few. Still, the discovery of this data has largely occurred in recent decades. Other significant barriers to accessing health care and to inclusion in health research are racial and systemic in nature. These groups are at higher risk of underlying health complications, especially with age.
Due to the lack of research, exclusion of women from clinical trials, and recent policy shifts, such as the overturning of Roe, the absence of consistent reproductive care legislation across states, and cuts to Medicare, women face significant barriers to care. These policies have created maternal care deserts, resulting from many closures of essential departments, such as OBGYN wards. Despite women being the largest consumers of healthcare, the healthcare that is predominantly necessary for their care continued to be defunded and disinvested in.
Nevertheless, as the Trump Administration and several agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have reduced support for women’s health programs, departments, and research projects, this has only further underscored the underinvestment in women’s healthcare. Major cuts to Medicaid programs and the dismantling of the Affordable Care Act have substantially reduced access to affordable coverage and care, especially for low-income women and families, leading to a “steep rise” in people becoming uninsured and reduced state healthcare funding for providers, resulting in many closures of essential departments, such as OBGYN wards.
Ultimately, the devaluation of women’s healthcare by investors reflects a deeper, systemic failure to prioritize women’s needs within the healthcare system. If government leaders demonstrated a genuine commitment to women’s health, investors would likely follow, expanding funding for care, research, and innovation. Instead, the lack of political will has reinforced disinvestment, even as women remain the largest consumer base in healthcare.
