A new national survey of women finds that a “substantial” number can’t afford to go to the doctor or get prescriptions filled, and even among those who can, many don’t get adequate levels of preventive care, such as diet and exercise counseling.
For those who are sick, poor or uninsured, the challenges are magnified, says the Kaiser Family Foundation report, “Women and Health Care: A National Profile”: Two-thirds of uninsured women said they’d delayed or forgone needed care in the past year, compared with 17 percent of those with private coverage. And 37 percent of women in “fair” or “poor” health had delayed or forgone care, and 34 percent had not filled a prescription due to the cost.
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“The growth in health care costs has become a central women’s health issue,” said Alina Salganicoff, vice president and director of women’s health policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation, in a news release. “A sizable share of women are falling through the cracks, either because they don’t have insurance or even with insurance can’t afford to pay for medical care or prescription drugs.”
The report is based on a phone survey of 2,766 women age 18 and older, each of whom was interviewed for about 25 minutes. About two-thirds had private insurance, mostly employer-sponsored; 7 percent were on Medicaid; and 17 percent were uninsured.
Across the board, the survey found, most women are getting basic screenings: 89 percent had their blood pressure tested in the last two years, 75 percent had gotten a clinical breast exam, 73 percent had gotten a Pap smear, and 62 percent had gotten a blood cholesterol test.
Colon cancer screenings, however, are much more rare – only 38 percent of women 50 and older reported getting one in the last two years; similarly, only 37 percent reported getting an osteoporosis screening. Seventy percent of respondents had gotten a mammogram.
More than half the women said their doctors are their first source of health information, yet they’re not getting a lot of advice, the survey found. Only 55 percent of the women had talked with a doctor or nurse about diet, exercise and nutrition in the past year, and even fewer had discussed smoking (33 percent), alcohol use (20 percent) and calcium intake (43 percent).
Among women of reproductive age (18 to 44), only 31 percent said they’d talked with their doctor about their sexual history and specific issues such as STDs (28 percent) and HIV/AIDS (31 percent) in the past three years.
“These are very sensitive issues, and women, as well as doctors, may be reluctant to raise them,” Salganicoff said at a briefing on the survey results. “In addition, we’re trying to compress more and more into a short visit.”
Many women may be using up their 15 minutes discussing their chronic illnesses.
The survey found 38 percent of the women had at least one chronic condition requiring ongoing medical attention – such as diabetes, asthma or hypertension – compared with 30 percent of men. Women have substantially higher rates of arthritis, asthma and obesity than men; 23 percent have been diagnosed with depression or anxiety, versus 30 percent of men.
Almost one in five women reported being in “poor” or “fair” health. But even the healthy take medications: 55 percent of all respondents said they took at least one prescription drug regularly, including 37 percent of women age 18 to 44, and 87 percent of those 65 and older.
The survey also reaffirmed the widely held view that women tend to be in charge of health care in their families. Eight in 10 mothers and guardians said they had responsibility for choosing their children’s doctors, and 12 percent of the survey respondents said they were caring for a sick or aging relative. Among those, 29 percent provided more than 40 hours of care per week, and 46 percent had a chronic health condition of their own.
