Titled, “Roadblocks to Health Care: Why the Current Health Care System Does Not Work For Women,” the report found that because women are less likely than men to be employed full time (52 percent versus 73 percent), women were less likely to have health insurance. Twenty-one million women were without health insurance in 2007.

“All Americans are suffering under the current system, but women and small businesses are paying a particularly heavy price,” said Sebelius in a statement. “Millions of women are uninsured, and small businesses are struggling to give their workers the care they need and deserve. We can’t wait to pass comprehensive health care reform and give women – and all Americans – the health care system we need.”

Single women are twice as likely as married women to lack health insurance, according to the report, with 24 percent of single women and 12 percent of married women without health insurance.

Health insurance premiums were also found to be higher for women. They paid 1 1/2 times more for health insurance on the individual market than men. Also, women used medical services more frequently than men, particularly reproductive health services.

“The report from Secretary Sebelius underscores the real need to ensure that women have access to quality, affordable reproductive health care as part of any health reform effort,” said Sarah Stoesz of Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota (PPMNS). “The findings of the report reaffirm what we see firsthand at Planned Parenthood health centers every day.”

Stoesz said that PPMNS has seen demand for long term contraception skyrocket in the last year, with a 54 percent increase.

“Women can do the math. They know if they are about to lose their insurance, if their hours are being cut back, that reliable long term contraception makes fiscal sense,” said Stoesz.

Cross-posted at Vox Verax.

(NOTE: This article has been edited and corrected since first posted.)

On Sunday afternoon on Rochester, Rep. John Murtha, who was introduced by Minnesota State Senator Sheila Kiscaden, opened his remarks by saying that when he entered Congress there were only 15 women in the House. Now there are 67, or a little over 15% of the members. Also on the patio with him was Minnesota State Rep. Tina Liebling. Later in his remarks, the congressman acknowledged that when he was growing up “in the Murtha family the women ran the show.”

That led me to wonder what the new Congress might look like in terms of male and female faces. Looking at the Top 30 races listed by the National Journal, the following seats could see a gender change in the next Congress:

Rank as of 9/8	House seat	Current occupant	Possible opposite sex successor
2	Arizona 08	Jim Kolbe (R)	Gabrielle Giffords (D)
4	Pennsylvania 06	Jim Gerlach (R)	Lois Murphy (D)
5	Texas 22	Tom DeLay (R)	Shelley Sekula-Gibbs (R)
10	Connecticut 04	Chris Shays (R)	Diane Farrell (D)
17	Virginia 02	Thelma Drake (R)	Phillip Kellam (D)
20	Washington 08	Dave Reichert (R)	Darcy Burner (D)
22	Connecticut 05	Nancy Johnson (R)	Chris Murphy (D)
23	Illinois 06	Henry Hyde (R)	Tammy Duckworth (D)
27	Minnesota 06	Mark Kennedy (R)	Michele Bachmann (R) or Patty Wetterling (D)
29	Vermont AL	Bernie Sanders (I)	Martha Rainville (R)
30	Illinois 08	Melissa Bean (D)	David McSweeney (R)

(Two hotly contested races, New Mexico 01, ranked #9, and Ohio 15, #15, see both female incumbents and challengers.)

If women win all of these contests, this will bring the number of women in the House to almost 80, or about 18%