We’re Going Backwards: The $20 Billion Plan to Close the Gender Healthcare Gap

The Society for Women’s Health Research wants the government to spend $20 billion over ten years on women’s health. That is a big ask, and it comes with a number that makes the current situation look small: less than 10% of the funding at the National Institutes of Health goes toward women’s health research.

Katie Schubert, the president and CEO of the Society for Women’s Health Research, joined Norah on this week’s Healthful to talk about the plan. The roadmap is described as a first-of-its-kind federal plan aimed at improving the health of more than half of the population.

The Numbers Behind the Ask

The Society for Women’s Health Research is pushing for a massive shift in federal funding priorities. The group’s plan calls for a $20 billion, 10-year investment in women’s health research. The organization says that less than 10% of the funding at the National Institutes of Health goes toward women’s health research.

That figure matters because the NIH is primarily funded by taxpayer dollars. So the argument is simple: if less than 10% of public health research money is spent on women’s health, the field is being starved.

Who Is Making the Case

Katie Schubert runs the Society for Women’s Health Research as its president and CEO. She appeared on this week’s episode of Healthful to discuss the roadmap and the gap it aims to close. The show is available online, and the full interview is worth listening to for anyone who wants to hear her make the case directly.

Norah hosts the show, and she brought Schubert on to talk through the specifics of the plan. The conversation covers the scope of the problem and what the roadmap proposes to fix.

What the Roadmap Promises

The $20 billion figure is the headline, but the roadmap itself is described as a comprehensive federal plan. The Society for Women’s Health Research is positioning it as a model for how the country can close the healthcare gap.

The plan aims to improve the health of more than half of the population. That is a broad goal, and the roadmap is meant to provide the federal framework to get there.

The Funding Gap in Context

The NIH is primarily funded by taxpayer dollars. Its grants shape what gets studied. If less than 10% of that budget goes to women’s health, the field is chronically underfunded.

That is the gap the roadmap is meant to close. The Society for Women’s Health Research is asking for a tenfold increase in federal commitment over the next decade.

The Whole Picture

Here is what the source tells us about the plan:

1. It is a $20 billion, 10-year investment in women’s health research.
2. It is described as a first-of-its-kind federal roadmap.
3. It aims to improve the health of more than half of the population.
4. It addresses a funding gap the Society for Women’s Health Research says is less than 10% of NIH funding.

The Society for Women’s Health Research has framed the plan, and the plan has been reported.

What Comes Next

The roadmap has been presented, and now it needs champions. The Society for Women’s Health Research has put the plan forward, and winning support in Washington will be the next test.

The organization has made its case. The next step is action, and that will require political will at a scale the organization has never attempted before.

The plan is a statement of intent. Whether it becomes policy is the question that remains open.

Timeline of the Campaign

The plan is ambitious, and the Society for Women’s Health Research has put it forward. The next step is action, and that will require political will at a scale the organization has never attempted before.

See the video the story is built around at CBS News.

healthcare gap · NIH funding · policy proposal · research funding · women's health