As Washington continues to debate on just how a plan for healthcare reform would work, there are specific areas related to women’s health that are being analyzed.  As part of a recent report published by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), their findings indicate that  twenty-one million women and girls went without health insurance in 2007.  HHS goes on to say women are less likely to have health insurance as they may not be employed full-time, work only part-time (making them ineligible for benefits in some cases) or simply be unable to afford the high premiums associated with individual coverage.  In a recent national survey, more than half of women reported delaying or avoiding needed care because of cost. If  reform legislation is passed by the end of this year, healthcare organizations may be dealing with significant increases in their volumes down the road due to the dramatic increase  of women and girls that may then be covered.  If dealing with a remodel or planning effort for your women’s service lines, think of ways to allow for significant volume increases in the near future. Some of this might include designing soft space areas such as storage rooms or offices with future utilities that  allows for conversion to treatment space  later or converting to digital technologies sooner to allow for increased volumes with less equipment.  It is still too early to tell where things are headed with the reform agenda, but these issues are important to consider in order to be better prepared for what may come.