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Subject Area: Health Coverage for Women

This section of the report card evaluates states based on their performance on key measures of health insurance coverage for women and the share of women who remain uninsured.

The section includes key data points for the share of women who are uninsured in each state, both for the overall population and with breakdowns by race and by income threshold, from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2013 American Community Survey and from the Census Bureau’s Small Area Health Insurance Estimates (SAHIE) program. It also includes the most recent data from the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index estimating uninsured percentages in mid-2014 and changes in the uninsured from 2013 to mid-2014 (though the Well-Being Index data is available only for whole state populations, not limited to women, it is the most current information available on state uninsured rates and is a useful proxy for exploring recent trends in health coverage).

KEY FINDINGS ON HEALTH COVERAGE FOR WOMEN

Best and Worst Coverage Rankings

The states with the best rankings for health coverage for women are Delaware (#1), Massachusetts (#2), Vermont (#3), Hawaii (#4), and Connecticut (#5). The states with the worst rankings for health coverage for women are Texas (#50), Montana (#49), Georgia (#48), Florida (#47), and Nevada (#46).

Racial Disparities in Women’s Health Coverage

The coverage data show that, across the states, black and Latina women continue to lack health insurance coverage at significantly higher rates than women overall. In 28 states, the uninsured rate for black women was at least 10 percent higher than for women overall; in 17 states, it was at least 20 percent higher. These disparities in health coverage were even wider for Latina women: in 49 states, the uninsured rate for Latina women was at least 20 percent higher than for women overall; in 44 states, it was at least 50 percent higher; and in 18 states, it was at least twice as high.

States Rejecting Medicaid Expansion

Many of the states that received poor grades for women’s health coverage are states that have rejected federal funding to expand Medicaid. Eleven of the 12 lowest-ranking states have, to date, rejected Medicaid expansion. Nine of the states that have rejected Medicaid expansion received an F grade for coverage, four more received a D, and five more received a C. All in all, 18 of the 21 states rejecting Medicaid expansion as of September 2014 received a C-level grade or worse for women’s health coverage.2

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2013 American Community Survey (ACS) 1-year estimates, Table C27001, “Health Insurance Coverage Status by Sex by Age,” available at: http://factfinder2.census.gov

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2012 Small Area Health Insurance Estimates (SAHIE), available at: http://www.census.gov/did/www/sahie/data/interactive/

RDR – Racial Disparity Ratio = ratio for selected group compared to all women in the state.
For example, a racial disparity ratio of 1.5 means the percentage/rate for the selected group is 1.5 times the benchmark percentage/rate for all women in the state.

Source: AJS calculations based on U.S. Census Bureau, 2012 Small Area Health Insurance Estimates (SAHIE), available at: http://www.census.gov/did/www/sahie/data/interactive/

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2012 Small Area Health Insurance Estimates (SAHIE), available at: http://www.census.gov/did/www/sahie/data/interactive/

Source: Gallup, 2013-2014 Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, “Change in Percentage of Uninsured by State, 2013 vs. Midyear 2014,” table published August 5, 2014, available at: http://www.gallup.com/poll/174290/arkansas-kentucky-report-sharpest-drops-uninsured-rate.aspx#2

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Home / Introduction

Executive Summary & Report Card

Subject Areas

• Health Coverage for Women

• Women’s Access to Health Care

• Women’s Health Outcomes

Discussion of State Rankings, Grades and Racial Disparity Ratios

State Reports

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