By: Randall Rutta, CEO, National Health Council  

“Investing in women means investing in the people  
who invest in everyone else.” -Melinda French Gates, Philanthropist 

We all remember the most important women in our lives. Those who lovingly, quietly, and unassumingly take on a disproportionate burden at home and at work. With little expectation of reward, they make life better for their families, their communities, and the world around them.  

At the same time, far away from the headlines, when the women we know need help, there is a different story. While the United States has the most sophisticated health care system in the world, significant systemic flaws that have existed for decades have created unequal access and treatment for many of the women we know, love, and respect. Medical research and clinical guidelines have historically been based on male patients, leading to delayed diagnosis, inadequate treatment, and lower-quality care for women globally. 

These gaps matter because the discrepancies compound over time: women face higher chronic disease burden, greater financial strain, and systemic bias in diagnosis and treatment. Even though women use health care more frequently, they still experience poorer access, worse affordability, and lower-quality care in critical areas like chronic disease. 

That information is difficult to comprehend and impossible to accept. It means far too many women in our lives—our mothers, wives, sisters, daughters, aunts, grandmothers, and caregivers—suffer unnecessarily at the hands of a flawed health care system that does not treat all patients the same.  

It means the women’s health gap is significant and closing it will take determination and a significant investment that only the federal government can make.   

That is why an influential collection of women’s advocacy organizations—the Society for Women’s Health Research, the American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists and the Women First Research Coalition—this week announced A National Strategy to Close the Women’s Health Gap.   

The Strategy calls upon Congress to invest $20 billion in women’s health over the next decade. The funds will support economic growth, accelerate access to new therapies, and enhance health, wellbeing, and longevity for women and all Americans. It’s an exciting women’s health moonshot. 

Federal investments will be used to advance women’s health in several critical areas: 

• $7 billion for research and innovation that increases dedicated funding for women’s health research at the National Institutes of Health. 

• $7 billion to expand the number of women’s health investigators and clinicians by funding the National Academy of Sciences recommendations on workforce expansion.  

• $4 billion for additional research and evidence gathering to better identify and understand women’s health gaps and develop initiatives to address them. 

• $1 billion for regulatory coordination & modernization to create a pathway for the federal government to collaborate on women’s health needs and outcomes.  

• $1 billion for a national public awareness and education campaign to educate women on how best to take charge of their own health care decisions.  

The funding we seek and the initiatives it supports are vital first steps in changing our health care landscape for the better and ensuring women get the quality health care they deserve.  

As Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of the United Nations, said, “When women thrive, all of society benefits and succeeding generations are given a better start in life.”  

We could not agree more. Women are the bedrock of society, and each and every one must have access to the very best when it comes to their health. Anything less is unacceptable.  

I hope you will join the National Health Council in supporting the National Strategy to Close the Women’s Health Gap.