Health Coverage and Expenses: Impact on Older Women’s Economic Well-Being

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. They found that women’s health care expenses were higher than men’s; that older women paid for a greater share of their total spending out of pocket and that women faced a greater overall financial burden because they had less income at their disposal.

Authors of the paper, all of whom work for the Foundation, included Alina Salganicoff, vice president and director of Women’s Health Policy; Juliette Cubanski, principal policy analyst; Usha Ranji, principal policy analyst; and Tricia Neuman, vice president and director of the Medicare Policy Project.

Journal Article (.pdf)