US Women of Reproductive Age Hurt by Insurance Barriers

April 9, 2022

Summary: “Among women of reproductive age in high-income countries, rates of death from avoidable causes, including pregnancy-related complications, are highest in the United States. U.S. women of reproductive age are significantly more likely to have problems paying their medical bills or to skip or delay needed care because of costs.” This says it all.

Health and Health Care for Women of Reproductive Age
The Commonwealth Fund
April 6, 2022
By Munira Z. Gunja et al

The maternal mortality crisis in the United States has been well documented: U.S. women have the highest rate of maternal deaths among high-income countries, while Black women are nearly three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than white women are. But maternal deaths and complications may be a bellwether for the U.S.’s wider failures with respect to women’s health and health care.

Among women of reproductive age in high-income countries, rates of death from avoidable causes, including pregnancy-related complications, are highest in the United States.

U.S. women of reproductive age are significantly more likely to have problems paying their medical bills or to skip or delay needed care because of costs.

U.S. women of reproductive age have among the highest rates of multiple chronic conditions and the highest rate of mental health needs.

High health care costs are significant burdens for many U.S. households, even those covered by health insurance. Over one-quarter of women of reproductive age in the U.S. and Switzerland spend USD 2,000 or more in out-of-pocket medical costs, as compared with less than 5 percent of women in the U.K., France, and Netherlands.

Half of women of reproductive age in the U.S. reported skipping or delaying needed care because of costs. U.S. survey respondents were significantly more likely to report skipping care than respondents in all other countries. In the Netherlands, only 12 percent of women said they had forgone care for cost reasons. America’s outlier status on this measure likely stems from the large number of women who lack health insurance — 10 million — as well as the high copayments, coinsurance, and deductibles that many U.S. women enrolled in commercial health plans face when seeking care.

Compared to their counterparts in the other 10 countries, women of reproductive age in the U.S. were significantly more likely to report one or more medical bill problems, with over half saying they had experienced one or more. Only one in 10 women in the U.K., which provides free care to all residents through the country’s National Health Service, reported a medical bill problem.

When looking at all women, we found that those in the U.S. have the highest rate of avoidable deaths: nearly 200 in 100,000 deaths could have been prevented or treated with the right care provided at the right time.

Research shows that investing in women’s health results in a healthier overall population, healthier future generations, and greater social and economic benefits. Yet the U.S. remains the only wealthy country without universal health care, leaving about 10 million women without insurance.

Comment by: Don McCanne

How is the United States doing in providing adequate health care for its residents? Let’s just look at women of reproductive age – a group that plays such an important role in family and community life and should not be afflicted by medical risks more characteristic of older age.

Compared to other wealthy nations that spend less on health care than us, our record is miserable. Not only do our insurance programs leave many unacceptable gaps in coverage, we leave ten million women with no insurance coverage at all, thus potentially unnecessarily exposed to physical and financial suffering and even death. We are already spending the funds that could prevent this, but we are spending them on the wrong health care financing system – a highly dysfunctional, fragmented system designed to benefit venture capitalists and private equity investors, with insurance and much patient care being primarily a tool to enable wealth accumulation.

We are spending enough money to do it right, but it appears that our health care infrastructure is now so distorted by capital interests that even single payer Medicare for All may not be enough to ensure adequate health care for all. Maybe all of us, as communities, need to play a greater role. For those who missed it, several HJM contributors last week published an article in The Nation how communities, not corporations, should own our most vital health care assets.

With public financing and community control, women of reproductive age would no longer have to worry about their own health care access and affordability, and also would no longer have to worry about health care for their loved ones, or for everyone else.

Maybe women are best positioned to lead the march toward health care justice for all.