Women without Health Insurance

Without health insurance, most women cannot obtain appropriate health care. As noted in the National Report Card, almost 18 percent of women in the United States are uninsured. Although the lack of health insurance is a significant problem for both men and women, women face special challenges. On average, women have lower incomes than men and therefore have greater difficulty paying premiums. Women's reproductive health needs, their greater rate of health problems, and their longer life span when compared with men cause them to use more health care services than men do. (1) Uninsured women are likely to have difficulty obtaining these health care services. According to one study, significantly more uninsured women than men delayed or went without health care because they could not afford it.(2)

What percentage of women do not have health insurance?

The Report Card benchmark is the Healthy People 2010 benchmark of 100% coverage for all people (when applied to women) [Healthy People 2010, Objective 1-1].

Data Source: Women without Health Insurance (%), 2004-2005.

EXPLANATION: This measure includes women ages 18-64 in the non-institutionalized civilian population who report that they do not have health insurance.

SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey (CPS), “Annual Social and Economic Supplement” (ASEC) 2006, 2007 (databases) (unpublished data available at http://www.census.gov/cps/).  The overall state data and the state data by age group are based on estimates of pooled 2005 and 2006 data from the 2006 and 2007 CPS ASEC.  The overall U.S. data and U.S. data by age group are based on 2006 data from the 2007 CPS ASEC.  Data by race/ethnicity at the state and national level are for 2005 to 2006 and are from the 2006 and 2007 CPS ASEC.

  State Overall Data State Grade State Rank
ALABAMA 18.9% F 32
ALASKA 20.1% F 40
ARIZONA 23.8% F 46
ARKANSAS 23.5% F 45
CALIFORNIA 21.0% F 43
COLORADO 18.2% F 31
CONNECTICUT 12.0% U 9
DELAWARE 12.3% U 13
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 12.0% U 9
FLORIDA 24.1% F 47
GEORGIA 20.0% F 39
HAWAII 10.7% U 4
IDAHO 17.6% F 29
ILLINOIS 16.1% F 26
INDIANA 15.0% F 23
IOWA 11.8% U 8
KANSAS 13.9% F 19
KENTUCKY 17.8% F 30
LOUISIANA 26.6% F 49
MAINE 11.1% U 6
MARYLAND 14.7% F 22
MASSACHUSETTS 10.5% U 3
MICHIGAN 13.3% F 17
MINNESOTA 9.1% U 1
MISSISSIPPI 21.2% F 44
MISSOURI 16.5% F 28
MONTANA 19.1% F 34
NEBRASKA 12.6% U 14
NEVADA 20.4% F 42
NEW HAMPSHIRE 12.8% F 16
NEW JERSEY 16.4% F 27
NEW MEXICO 26.7% F 50
NEW YORK 15.4% F 25
NORTH CAROLINA 19.5% F 36
NORTH DAKOTA 10.9% U 5
OHIO 12.6% U 14
OKLAHOMA 24.6% F 48
OREGON 20.2% F 41
PENNSYLVANIA 11.3% U 7
RHODE ISLAND 12.0% U 9
SOUTH CAROLINA 19.7% F 37
SOUTH DAKOTA 13.9% F 19
TENNESSEE 15.1% F 24
TEXAS 28.1% F 51
UTAH 19.8% F 38
VERMONT 12.0% U 9
VIRGINIA 13.9% F 19
WASHINGTON 13.7% F 18
WEST VIRGINIA 19.4% F 35
WISCONSIN 10.0% U 2
WYOMING 18.9% F 32
 
S (Satisfactory): 0  
S- (Satisfactory Minus): 0  
U (Unsatisfactory): 15  
F (Fail): 36  

1. Elizabeth M. Patchias and Judy Waxman, Women and Health Coverage: The Affordability Gap (The Commonwealth Fund and National Women's Law Center, April 2007), 1, 4-5, available at http://www.nwlc.org/pdf/NWLCCommonwealthHealthInsuranceIssueBrief2007.pdff.

2. Ibid.