Summary
A new national survey of women on their health finds that a substantial percentage of women cannot afford to go to the doctor or get prescriptions filled. Although a majority of women are in good health and satisfied with their health care, many have health problems and do not get adequate levels of preventive care. For those who are sick, poor, or uninsured, the challenges are magnified. The Kaiser Family Foundation report, Women and Health Care: A National Profile, is based on a national survey of 2,766 women age 18 and older.
As health care costs grow, more than one-quarter of non-elderly women (27%) and two-thirds of uninsured women (67%) report they delayed or went without care they believed they needed in the past year because they could not afford it, compared to 24% and 59% respectively in 2001. Among women with private coverage, nearly one in five (17%) delayed or went without care. In addition, 20% of women ages 18 and older say they did not fill a prescription in the past year because of the cost.
"The growth in health care costs has become a central women's health issue," said Alina Salganicoff, Vice President and Director of Women's Health Policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation. "A sizable share of women are falling through the cracks, either because they don't have insurance or even with insurance can't afford to pay for medical care or prescription drugs."
Fewer than half of all women say they have talked to a health care professional in the past three years about smoking (33%), alcohol use (20%), and calcium intake (43%), while just over half have talked about diet, exercise, and nutrition (55%). Among women of reproductive age (18-44), fewer than one in three (31%) say that they have talked with their doctor about their sexual history and specific issues, such as STDs (28%) and HIV/AIDS (31%) in the past three years.
Mammography rates reported by women ages 40 to 64 have not improved, falling slightly from 73% in 2001 to 69% in 2004. Only 40% of uninsured women over 40 had a mammogram in the past year, compared to three-quarters of women with private coverage (74%) or Medicare (73%). Pap testing rates reported among women ages 18 to 64 also fell from 81% in 2001 to 76%. Only 38% of women 50 and older say they have had a colon cancer screening test in the past two years and 37% of women 45 and older say they received a test for osteoporosis in the past two years.
Additional key findings:
Prescription Drug Costs
• Women (56%) are more likely than men (42%) to use a prescription
medicine on a regular basis, and are also more likely to report
difficulties affording their medications.
• 41% of uninsured women say they did not fill a prescription due to
costs, as do one in six women (17%) with private coverage and nearly
one in five women with Medicaid (19%) .
• One in seven (14%) women also report that they skipped or took smaller
doses of their medicines in the past year to make them last longer.
Chronic Health Conditions and Mental Health
• Nearly four in 10 women (38%), have a chronic condition, such as
diabetes, asthma or hypertension that requires ongoing medical
attention, compared to 30% of men.
• One in four women (23%) reported they have been diagnosed with
depression or anxiety, over twice the rate for men (11%).
Access and Quality of Care Among Women in Fair or Poor Health
• Over one-third (37%) of women in fair or poor health say that they
delayed or went without medical care in the past year due to costs, and
one-third (34%) did not fill a prescription because they couldn't
afford it.
• Nearly one-third (31%) of women in fair/poor health report concerns
about the quality of care they received in the past year, compared to
18% of women in better health.
Women as Caregivers and Family Decision Makers
• One in 10 women (12%) care for a sick or aging relative. Among this
group, forty percent are low-income, 46% have a chronic health
condition of their own, and 29% provide more than 40 hours of care per
week. One in five (20%) non-elderly caregivers are uninsured.
• Eight in 10 mothers/guardians say they have lead responsibility for
choosing their children's doctors (79%), taking them to appointments
(84%), and ensuring they receive follow-up care (78%).
The report will be released at a briefing today in Washington, D.C. that includes a panel discussion among Alina Salganicoff, Ph.D. Vice President and Director of Women's Health Policy at Kaiser and report co-author; Carolyn M. Clancy, MD, Director, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; Paula A. Johnson, MD, MPH, Executive Director, Connors Center for Women's Health and Gender Biology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and, Susan Starr Sered, PhD, Co-author of Uninsured in America, Life and Death in the Land of Opportunity and Research Director, Religion and Health Initiative, Suffolk University, Boston, MA.
Methodology
The Kaiser Women's Health Survey is a nationally representative telephone survey of 2,766 women ages 18 and older. The survey was designed and analyzed by Kaiser Foundation staff in collaboration with Princeton Survey Research Associates International (PSRAI) and researchers from University of California, Los Angeles and fielded between July 6 and September 26, 2004. A shorter companion survey of 507 men was also conducted. The margin of sampling error is +/-2 percentage points for women, +/-4 percentage points for men, and is larger for subgroups.
The report and materials from the briefing are available online at http://www.kff.org/womenshealth/whp070705pkg.cfm . An archived webcast of the briefing will be available after 5:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, July 7 at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/healthcast/kff/07july05 .
The Kaiser Family Foundation is a non-profit, private operating foundation dedicated to providing information and analysis on health care issues to policymakers, the media, the health care community, and the general public. The Foundation is not associated with Kaiser Permanente or Kaiser Industries.
Original source:
http://media.prnewswire.com/en/jsp/latest.jsp?beat=BEAT_HEALTHCARE&view=LATEST&resourceid=2986936
Details
More Than One in Four Non-elderly Women Delay or Forego Medical Care Due to Costs (press release)
About the author: Mike Adams is a natural health author and award-winning journalist with a strong interest in personal health, the environment and the power of nature to help us all heal He has authored and published thousands of articles, interviews, consumers guides, and books on topics like health and the environment, and he has created several downloadable courses on survival and preparedness, including his widely-downloaded course on personal safety and self-defense. Adams is an honest, independent journalist and accepts no money or commissions on the third-party products he writes about or the companies he promotes. In 2010, Adams created TV.NaturalNews.com, a natural living video sharing site featuring thousands of user videos on foods, fitness, green living and more. He also founded an environmentally-friendly online retailer called BetterLifeGoods.com that uses retail profits to help support consumer advocacy programs. He's also the founder and CEO of a well known email mail merge software developer whose software, 'Email Marketing Director,' currently runs the NaturalNews email subscriptions. Adams volunteers his time to serve as the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, and regularly pursues cycling, nature photography, Capoeira and Pilates. Known as the 'Health Ranger,' Adams' personal health statistics and mission statements are located at www.HealthRanger.org
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Tuesday, July 12, 2005
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