Women’s Health Care Policy - Reports, Public Opinion & Research

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Issue Brief Examines Access to Abortion Coverage and Health Reform
The brief discusses the treatment of coverage for abortion services under the major health reform bills and explores the possible impact of the House-passed legislation on public and private coverage for abortion services.

Health Reform: Implications for Women's Access to Coverage and Care
This issue brief highlights key issues for women that arise in the context of health reform, including access to health insurance coverage, health care affordability, scope of benefits, reproductive health and long-term care.

Recent Documents: (335 results)

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Access to Abortion Coverage and Health Reform -- November 2009
This issue brief discusses the treatment of coverage for abortion services under the major health reform bills and explores the possible impact of the House-passed legislation on public and private coverage for abortion services.

Women's Health Insurance Coverage: Fact Sheet -- October 2009
This fact sheet provides new statistics on health coverage and describes the major sources of health insurance for non-elderly adult women ages 18–64, including employer-sponsored coverage, Medicaid, individually purchased insurance, and Medicare.

Health Insurance Coverage of Women Ages 18 to 64, by State, 2007–2008 -- October 2009
This fact sheet provides state-by-state data on the uninsured rate, as well as rates of private insurance coverage and Medicaid coverage, among women nationally, in the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Health Reform: Implications for Women's Access to Coverage and Care -- October 2009
This issue brief highlights key issues for women that arise in the context of health reform, including access to health insurance coverage, health care affordability, scope of benefits, reproductive health and long-term care. The brief examines the current situation for women as well as relevant provisions in the major reform legislation now under consideration in the House and Senate.

Fact Sheet: Women and HIV/AIDS in the United States -- September 2009
This updated fact sheet highlights the impact of HIV/AIDS on women in the United States, providing current data and trends over time

The U.S. and Global Maternal & Child Health -- August 2009
The fact sheet examines U.S. global health policy related to maternal and child health.

Health Coverage and Expenses: Impact on Older Women's Economic Well-Being -- August 2009
In this article in the Journal of Women, Politics & Policy, researchers from the Kaiser Family Foundation examine how health issues that women face over the course of their lives, as well as policies that shape Medicare, Medicaid and other supplemental coverage, can affect retired women's economic well-being.

Medicare's Role for Women -- June 2009
This fact sheet examines the demographic profile of women on Medicare, including their health and income status, the program's benefits and cost-sharing requirements, and the prevalence of supplemental coverage to fill gaps in Medicare’s coverage.

Resources Examine Racial and Ethnic Disparities Among Women at the State Level -- June 2009
This package of resources, including a comprehensive study, state fact sheets and interactive data tables, provides a rare state-level look at disparities among women of different races and ethnicities on a broad range of indicators of health and well-being.

Video: Women at Risk: A View from the Safety Net -- June 2009

This video provides a snapshot of the Arlington (Va.) Free Clinic where, twice a month, medical personnel provide care and screenings exclusively to women. The video explores the hurdles that uninsured women face in accessing health care and the social issues, including work and family responsibilities, that create challenges for them. It is a companion to the report, "Putting Women's Health Care Disparities On The Map: Examining Racial and Ethnic Disparities at the State Level."

This issue brief discusses the treatment of coverage for abortion services under the major health reform bills and explores the possible impact of the House-passed legislation on public and private coverage for abortion services.

This fact sheet provides new statistics on health coverage and describes the major sources of health insurance for non-elderly adult women ages 18–64, including employer-sponsored coverage, Medicaid, individually purchased insurance, and Medicare.

This fact sheet provides state-by-state data on the uninsured rate, as well as rates of private insurance coverage and Medicaid coverage, among women nationally, in the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

This issue brief highlights key issues for women that arise in the context of health reform, including access to health insurance coverage, health care affordability, scope of benefits, reproductive health and long-term care. The brief examines the current situation for women as well as relevant provisions in the major reform legislation now under consideration in the House and Senate.

This updated fact sheet highlights the impact of HIV/AIDS on women in the United States, providing current data and trends over time

The fact sheet examines U.S. global health policy related to maternal and child health.

In this article in the Journal of Women, Politics & Policy, researchers from the Kaiser Family Foundation examine how health issues that women face over the course of their lives, as well as policies that shape Medicare, Medicaid and other supplemental coverage, can affect retired women's economic well-being.

This fact sheet examines the demographic profile of women on Medicare, including their health and income status, the program's benefits and cost-sharing requirements, and the prevalence of supplemental coverage to fill gaps in Medicare’s coverage.

This package of resources, including a comprehensive study, state fact sheets and interactive data tables, provides a rare state-level look at disparities among women of different races and ethnicities on a broad range of indicators of health and well-being.

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Women's Health Policy

Women are major consumers of health care services, negotiating not only their own complex health care but often managing care for their family members as well. Their reproductive health needs as well as their greater rates of health problems and longer life spans compared with men make women’s relationships with the health care system complex. Women are also more likely to be low-income and often face the added challenge of balancing work with family health and caregiving responsibilities. For the one in five women who are uninsured, access to high quality, comprehensive care is even more difficult.

Women have a vested interest in the scope and type of services offered by the health care system, as well as in the mechanisms that fund their health care services. Because their access to care is influenced by a broad range of factors, analysis of women’s health policy cuts across many sectors of the health care financing and delivery system, including reproductive health policy, reforms to publicly-financed health programs, as well as private sector efforts to contain costs and improve health. Women comprise the majority of beneficiaries in publicly –funded programs such as Medicaid, Medicare, and welfare, making them key stakeholders in public policy debates about the impact of reforms to these programs. Because of their lower incomes, affordability and cost of care are critical issues for women.

The Foundation aims to provide policymakers, journalists, advocates, and public health practitioners with current analysis on the policies in health financing and delivery that affect women. The particular challenges faced by women at risk for experiencing access barriers, such as those on Medicaid, those who are uninsured, and racial and ethnic minorities, are a special focus. Primary activities include conducting periodic surveys on women's interactions with the health care system, monitoring reforms under consideration in Washington and state capitols across the country, conducting research to document the impact of policies and to identify emerging priority areas for women, as well as briefing policymakers and their staff on key trends and issues to inform current policy debates.