Recession Putting More Women Among the Uninsured
August 7th, 2009
Stay-at-home moms have more to worry about than the potential loss of their husbands’ income during this recession. Over 1.4 million women have lost their health insurance since the economic downturn started in December 2007, and 71% of them lost coverage because their husbands lost their jobs, and their family benefits. Those numbers come for a new study issued by the Democratic members of the Congressional Joint Economic Committee (JEC).
The weak job market has been particularly rough on single mothers, according to the survey. The number of unemployed female heads of household has increased 53% over the past twelve months, and 121,000 of their children lost health insurance as a result.
Then there are the women between the ages of 55 and 64 who lost their health insurance benefits because of their older husbands’ transition from employer-sponsored coverage to Medicare. The JEC said 75% of these women reported delaying filling prescriptions or taking fewer medications than prescribed because of cost.
On top of all that, the health consequences of inadequate insurance coverage are more severe for women than for men. The committee reports that 27% of women had health problems requiring medical attention but were not able to see a doctor, compared to 21% of men.
The report was released as part of the Democratic campaign to rally the public behind comprehensive health care reform. As JEC member Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA) said:
Our current health system—the most expensive in the world—needs urgent surgery to insure women, especially those most grievously affected by the recession, receive equal care. For far too many women and their families, quality, affordable health care is out of reach. More than two out of every five low income women today lack health care insurance. With urgent warnings about a renewal of swine flu this fall and steep declines threatening even deeper cuts in state Medicaid funding, it is critical for us to act.
What would happen to your family’s insurance coverage if one spouse lost their job, or worse yet, both? How would you cope?
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