Access to health insurance

Although the health of the American economy has never been better, more women than ever lack health insurance coverage. The proportion of uninsured women under age 65 rose from 14% in 1993 to 18% in 1998. More dramatic still, the proportion of women under 65 who lacked health insurance for all or part of 1998 was a staggering 26%, according to the 1998 Commonwealth Fund Survey of Women's Health [10]. The women most at risk of going without health insurance are those who earn low or moderate incomes, women of color, and women with health problems. More than 8 in 10 uninsured women are employed or married to someone who is. Lack of insurance severely compromises both the accessibility and quality of health care. Seventy percent of women under age 65 had private health insurance in 1997, and 12 percent were covered by Medicaid [1]. Almost all Americans aged 65 and over are covered by the Medicare program, including 92 percent of those who also have private insurance [1].