Care for Women: Why We Must Act Now

No matter how you slice it, healthcare in America is failing us.

• Nearly half of Americans skip necessary medical care due to cost.
• Life expectancy in the US is declining, and is one of the lowest among OECD countries.

In an era where the healthcare system in America is broken and uncertainties are mounting, women bear a disproportionate burden of poor outcomes, escalating health risks, and systemic inequities. This moment demands action: to redefine women’s care as whole-person, relational, and equitable, empowering women not just as patients but as the backbone of our society. By coming together as a community, we can address the urgent need for accessible, compassionate, and preventive care, ensuring that the future of women’s health is one of resilience, wellness, and collective progress.

Care In The U.S. Is Bad For All, But Women Are Disproportionately At Risk

While the top 10% of women can gain access to a growing market of high-cost concierge medicine (costing more than $1,500 / year) — which is a $6 billion industry and forecasted 10.5% CAGR over the next 4 years – 90% of women are left behind. For most women, outcomes are not just stagnant—they are slipping.

• Breast cancer: 1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer, and the rate of breast cancer is growing 1% annually. Of that, women over 50 years old are being diagnosed at a rate of 0.7% by contract. Women under 50 are being diagnosed at a rate of 1.7%, and significant disparities exist for diagnosis and survival rates of black and brown women compared to white women.
• Ovarian cancer: mortality rates remain alarmingly high – with > 60% of cases diagnosed after the cancer has metastasized.
• Colorectal cancer: rates have surged among women under 50 by 2% annually.
• Diabetes prevalence: among American women, diabetes has doubled in the last two decades.
• Pregnancy complications: Chronic hypertension in pregnant women has risen from 1.8% to 3.7%; this is a significant risk factor for pre-term births, and other birthing complications and presents ongoing cardiac risk for mom. Pre-term births are rising, especially among Black women. Furthermore, C-section rates remain stubbornly high at over 30% of U.S. births – 3x the WHO’s target of 10%.
• Autoimmune diseases: One in ten people now have an autoimmune condition; these conditions more frequently impact women than men at 13% versus 7%, respectively.
• Mental Health: Rates of depression in women are higher than in men (10.3% versus 6.2%), and women are nearly twice as likely to have generalized anxiety disorder compared to men.
• Aging: 2/3rds of those diagnosed with Alzheimer's are women, indicating a disproportionate risk to women over men.
• Life expectancy: American women's life expectancy has declined for the first time in decades.

It Should Be Unquestioned: healthy women make a healthy society

Beyond comprising over 50% of the population, women are the backbone of critical labor and production.

• Women’s labor force participation has increased over the last 20 years by >20%, yet these are low-compensation placements. Of the population in “low wage jobs” (less than $30K per year), 66% are women; comparatively, only 33% of those earning over $100k per year are women.
• Still today women earn about 82 cents for every dollar earned by men. The gap is wider for Hispanic or Latina women, who earn about 58 cents, and Black women, who earn about 63 cents for every dollar earned by White men.

So, we rely on women more than ever and continue to under-compensate women – all the while our women are sicker than ever.

And, to top it off, today, the future of women’s care feels uncertain. Regardless of where your vote fell this past election season, one truth stands tall: supporting women’s health is critical to our nation’s progress.

The Power to Act, Together

But, we have more power than we think. As women we can act to support women’s care together and push forward outcomes together. This action is critical to building resiliency in women's care access and delivery – no matter any political tide, current or future.

Tia has always been committed to improving women's lives in our country by improving women's health. We focus on delivering comprehensive and compassionate care to women across their reproductive lifespan. We do this through a particular focus: delivering preventive and primary care, which has been systematically documented as the best way to shift health outcomes across a lifespan. We’ve anchored our approach in a relational care model – that puts the human back into healthcare.

At a time when digital intake forms and chatbots increasingly replace healthcare delivery, women crave more than ever to have a person as the center of their care. High-quality women’s care cannot be relegated to AI alone – it is critical for women to receive “hands-on body” care from a provider who looks, sees, and hears them.

But, today and going forward, this is not enough.

It is not enough for us to simply deliver healthcare services. At Tia we are here to create a community of change with you. It is through community that we will support each other, build the healthcare we all deserve together, and make women healthier today and in the years to come together.

Care for women – what does this mean?

• This means whole person care beyond our breasts and uteruses.
• This means we a lift up one another. Across our relations to one another, our support will span across our mothers, daughters, sisters, wives, cousins, nieces, friends, co-workers, and acquaintances.
• This means we show up for one another more deeply – recognizing that in caring for one another comes power, comes healing, comes growth, and comes universal wellness for women.

Tia has always strived to bring health back into healthcare. In modifying our approach – steeping ourselves in a notion of caring for one another -- we will bring wellness to our whole community. This caring approach is even more needed now in this uncertain time for women’s care.

Despite the ambiguity, with greater health and vitality, we can better care for one another and all others who depend on us to be the shepherds of our tribes and of the future.

Join us – make this era a women’s era. Make this era one in which women are truly cared for.