Remarks as Prepared for Delivery by Director Jennifer Klein at the Age+ Action Conference
Thank you, Ramsey, for your kind introduction. And thank you to the National Council on Aging for inviting me here today.
It is wonderful to be with so many friends in this important work. I also want to recognize and thank my HHS colleagues, Alison and Kari, who you just heard from and who are tireless leaders on these important issues.
My name is Jennifer Klein, and I have the honor of serving as Director of the White House Gender Policy Council.
For those less familiar with our work, President Biden created the first-ever Gender Policy Council in 2021. Our work includes a wide range of issues from women’s health to women’s economic security to ending gender-based violence. All grounded in a fundamental commitment to human rights and equal opportunity for all—in the United States and around the world.
I am especially delighted to join you today to discuss the exciting work we are doing to close disparities in women’s health research through the first-ever White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research.
Women make up half of the population, but for far too long women’s health research has been underfunded and understudied. Which means that there are still far too many unanswered questions when it comes to women’s health.
As First Lady Dr. Jill Biden often says, “If you ask any woman in America about her health care, she probably has a story to tell.” We all know someone—or we may be that someone—who has gone to her doctor only to leave with more questions than answers. From the woman who gets debilitating migraines but doesn’t know why to the woman whose heart attack isn’t recognized because her symptoms don’t look like those of a man.
These gaps have real consequences for women, our health, and the economy. And it is important to recognize that we have made tremendous progress over the last few decades—from revolutionary discoveries in certain conditions affecting women such as breast cancer to increasing the numbers of women enrolled in clinical trials. But we still know too little about how to prevent, diagnose, and treat a wide range of health conditions in women:
From conditions that affect women uniquely, like endometriosis and fibroids;
To conditions that affect women disproportionately, like Alzheimer’s disease and rheumatoid arthritis;
To conditions that affect women differently than men, like heart disease.
To pioneer the next generation of discoveries and get women the answers they deserve, the President and the First Lady launched the first-ever White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research—which aims to fundamentally change how we approach and fund women’s health research across the lifespan.
Since the Initiative was launched last November, Dr. Biden has led the way.
She has traveled the country—from California to Illinois to Georgia to Massachusetts—touring research institutions and speaking directly with women and innovators about the need to transform women’s health research.
From lab tours to listening sessions, she is hearing first-hand about the cutting-edge research that is possible when we invest in women’s health—and about what we must do to support the breakthroughs we need in critical areas like women’s heart health.
And, in February, the First Lady announced the first ever Sprint for Women’s Health at the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health or ARPA-H with a commitment of $100 million dedicated to transformative research and development in women’s health. This new sprint will accelerate the next generation of discoveries—from early-stage research that will spark novel solutions to later-stage development that will bring cutting-edge research to life in the form of new products and treatment that will reach women even sooner because of ARPA-H’s support.
And I must tell you: the excitement we are seeing and hearing about this opportunity is energizing the field. ARPA-H received an unprecedented response of submissions, representing 45 states, the District of Columbia, and 34 countries and from a mix of scientific visionaries from across the globe and sectors. Those submissions are being reviewed by ARPA-H and other subject matter experts now with awards that will be announced later this year.
And that was just the beginning.
During his State of the Union address, the President called on Congress to make a bold, transformative investment of $12 billion in new funding for women’s health research.
These new funds would establish a central Fund for Women’s Health at the National Institutes of Health to advance an interdisciplinary research agenda and create a new nationwide network of research centers of excellence and innovation in women’s health.
And, as we work with Congress to secure these investments, the Administration is taking action to advance women’s health research.
In March, the President signed an Executive Order on Women’s Health Research and Innovation that directs the most comprehensive set of executive actions ever taken to advance research on women’s health.
Through this Executive Order, the President is directing Federal agencies to integrate women’s health across the federal research portfolio and prioritize investments in women’s health research, with a focus on driving innovation through entities like the Small Business Innovation Research Program and the Department of Defense.
The Executive Order also directs agencies to identify gaps in federal funding and report on their progress in improving women’s health.
And the Executive Order contains a set of directives explicitly focused on galvanizing new research on women’s midlife health, including conditions that often occur after menopause, like heart attacks, Alzheimer’s, and osteoporosis.
We suspect that it is the first time ever that an Executive Order has ever included the word “menopause!”
But we knew it was critical to include because it is long past time to invest in the research needed to get women the answers they deserve, at every stage of life.
And in March, we also unveiled more than 20 new actions and commitments from federal agencies. I’d like to highlight just a few examples of this exciting work.
The National Institutes of Health will launch a new NIH-wide effort to close gaps in women’s health research across the lifespan. This $200 million effort will catalyze interdisciplinary research, particularly on issues that cut across the traditional mandates of the institutes and centers at NIH. This means that NIH will support cross-cutting work to address women’s health research gaps by breaking down siloes and encouraging collaboration. This coordinated, NIH-wide effort will make it even easier, for example, to launch ambitious, multi-faceted research projects such as research on the impact of perimenopause and menopause on heart health, brain health and bone health
NIH is also launching its first-ever Pathways to Prevention series on menopause and the treatment of menopausal symptoms. This evidence-based process will help identify gaps in existing research and develop a roadmap that can be used to help guide the field of menopause-related research forward.
The Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs are launching a new Women’s Health Research Collaborative to explore opportunities to jointly advance women’s health research and improve evidence-based care for Service members and veterans.
And the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will strengthen its processes to ensure that new medical services and technologies work well in women, as applicable, before being covered nationally through the Medicare program. This will help ensure that Medicare funds are used for treatments with a sufficient evidence base to show that they actually work in women, who make up more than half of the Medicare population.
These are just some of the recent agency announcements. This work is already underway, and agencies will continue to take additional action as they implement the President’s Executive Order on women’s health research.
This work is essential, AND, even as we advance bold solutions across the federal government, the Initiative cannot transform women’s health research alone. That’s why President Biden and the First Lady have called on Congress, philanthropy, the private sector, the scientific community, and research institutions, among others, to join us in taking urgent action to spur innovation and improve women’s health.
And we look forward to working with the National Council on Aging, and all of you in this room, on getting women the answers they deserve about their health—especially as they age.
Our work to close disparities in women’s health research is also deeply aligned with the Administration’s overall agenda and key priorities which are focused on ensuring the health, well-being, and economic security of women as they age.
You heard from the last panel about many of the important and significant steps that this Administration is taking to improve the economic security of older Americans.
And I will highlight just a few more examples that underscore the President and Vice President’s commitment to lowering costs, increasing access, and helping women age with health and dignity.
First, President Biden is lowering health care costs. His Inflation Reduction Act took on Big Pharma and is already delivering results, including for the nearly 30 million women in Medicare Part D.
From lowering caps on costs for covered insulin to $35 per month, to capping out-of-pocket prescription drug costs for Medicare enrollees at $2,000 annually in 2025, to negotiating the prices of prescription drugs for the first time, the Administration is helping women and their families save money on the care they need—from treatment for cancer to asthma to autoimmune diseases.
This benefits all Americans but is especially critical for women.
The people in this room know that women are more likely to live in poverty than men and significantly more likely to retire in poverty.
Women also spend a larger portion of their income on health costs compared to men—and women with Medicare spend more out-of-pocket.
And NCOA’s What Women Say survey tells us that, in the past year, 20% of women said they had to delay or not fill a prescription, skip doses, take less than what they were prescribed, or stop taking a medication altogether because they simply could not afford it.
These economic realities impact our health: 23 percent of women reported that their health got worse due to their inability to pay for treatment in the last year.
And the gender wealth gap compounds these challenges—and the gap, accumulated over a lifetime, is even greater for women of color.
The President’s historic reforms help women with Medicare save more money at a time in their lives when they often need it most.
Second, we have made unprecedented investments in the care economy—an issue that many of us in this room, myself included, have been working on for decades. And, in my case, as a living example of the sandwich generation, navigating and relying on as well.
Providing access to high-quality care has been a central part of the President’s agenda—since the very beginning.
The American Rescue Plan made significant investments to strengthen home and community-based services, including by raising wages for care workers and funding worker retention, recruitment, training, and other efforts to keep providers staffed to improve services for seniors and individuals with disabilities. The American Rescue Plan also invested billions of dollars in child care, allowing childhood educators and family child care providers keep their doors open during the pandemic and continue to serve families who needed it most.
We understand just how important family caregivers are, and the hard work that is being done by family caregivers all across the country. So the Administration has invested in the National Family Caregiver Support Program to provide counseling, training, and short-term relief to family and other informal care providers.
Last April, the President signed a historic Executive Order, which included more than 50 directives to agencies to both improve care for families and support care workers and family caregivers.
In this last year, agencies across the federal government have delivered on the President’s commitment—from rules to reduce the cost of child care to supporting access to quality long-term care and nursing home care.
At the same time, the President’s FY25 Budget Request calls on Congress to make the long-term investments that we know we need—by investing $150 billion over the next decade to improve and expand Medicaid home care services—making it easier for seniors and people with disabilities to live, work, and participate in their communities. And by proposing a comprehensive, national paid family and medical leave program.
Finally, I could not leave here today without underscoring the President’s steadfast commitment to protecting and strengthening Social Security—the bedrock of financial security for seniors.
The President’s FY 2025 Budget reinforces his commitment to protecting Social Security and working with Congress to strengthen the program for the long haul. The President’s budget affirms our key principles of—
No benefit cuts;
Extending solvency;
Improving financial security for seniors and people with disabilities; and
Ensuring that Americans can access the benefits they’ve earned.
That is in addition to the important work that the Social Security Administration has been doing to help the lowest income older adults keep more of their Supplemental Security Income benefit, implementing cost of living adjustments, and improving customer service by investing in technology and staff.
The Administration stands ready to help Americans enter retirement more confidently.
There is always more to say about the work that we are doing on these issues and beyond—but I will end there and with a thank you on behalf of the Administration.
Thank you all for the work that each of you do—day in and day out—to support your communities and your loved ones. Thank you for your expertise and your advocacy to improve the lives of older Americans all across the country.
I especially want to thank the caregivers and care workers in the audience today—for your selfless dedication.
Today and every day, we are fighting with you and for you.
Best wishes for the rest of the conference and thank you, again, for having me.