High Health Care Costs Hurt Women More Than Men
New Report Finds Females Lack Health Insurance or Forego Care
May 28, 2009
The Commonwealth Fund released Women at Risk: Why Many Women Are Forgoing Needed Health Care, a report by Sheila Rustgi, Michelle Doty and Sara Collins, on May 7, 2009. The authors reported that about half of working-age women said they have problems accessing needed care because of costs. About 40 percent of men responded they have problems accessing care.
Women who have insurance but are not fully covered are at the most risk of not getting the necessary care, Rustgi said. About two-thirds of underinsured women have problems accessing care compared to about half for men. According to the report, about 64 million women or 70 percent of Americans have no health insurance coverage, inadequate coverage, high medical bills or debt problems, or problems accessing care because of cost.
Study Uses Health Insurance Survey Data
The results of the study come from data from Commonwealth Fund’s 2007 Biennial Health Insurance Survey. They understate the scope of the problem stemming from rising unemployment rates and the increase of a loss of insurance coverage, Rustgi said.
“Although similar proportions of women and men were uninsured for at least part of the year or were underinsured, we found that women were more affected by exposure to health care costs,” said Doty.
Conclusions of the study are
- 52 percent of women did not fill a prescription, did not see a specialist when needed, skipped a recommended medical test or treatment, or had a medical problem but did not visit a doctor compared to 39 percent of men
- 45 percent of women accrued medical debt or reported problems with medical bills in 2007 compared to 36 percent of men
- 45 percent delayed or did not receive a cancer screening or dental care because of costs compared to 36 percent of men
Employer-Funded Health Insurance Flawed
While most Americans receive health insurance through employers, small employers are sharing more of their costs with their employees or eliminating coverage, Rustgi said. The recession has accelerated this downward trend, leaving millions of people without health insurance.
The share of women spending high proportions of their incomes on health care costs and premiums has increased dramatically. In 2007, more than a third of women spent 10 percent of their income on out-of-pocket health expenses, the report found. In 2001, only 25 percent spent that much on out-of-pocket expenses. In addition, about 60 percent of women with incomes between $20,000 and $40,000 reported they couldn’t pay medical bills or were contacted by a collection agency compared to 50 percent of men.
As the recession worsens, women are at risk for not getting needed health care due to rising costs, the authors concluded.
