Women’s Health & Security Snapshot 2000

Health is a core economic as well as quality of life issue. More than 44 million Americans do not have access to health insurance. Yet, without good health, women and men cannot hold down jobs or take care of their children; children cannot learn and thrive. We need a comprehensive health care system that provides prevention as well as treatment. This is especially true for women, who spend 68% more in out-of-pocket health expenses in their childbearing years (15-44) than their male counterparts. Nearly 14% of all adult women—including 465,000 pregnant women—don’t have a penny of health insurance. And while in many states those numbers have improved in recent years, in 26 states those numbers have stayed the same or gotten worse. Even with record low unemployment rates and safety net programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), millions of Americans do not have access to health care when they need it. And of those, nearly 12 million are children—87% of whom are from working families. The new economy has brought an increase in service sector jobs and part-time and contingent work, adding up to fewer jobs that provide health benefits. In 1980, 97% of private employers with 100 or more employees provided their employees with health benefits; by 1995, this had dropped to 77%. We need outreach programs to ensure those eligible children and their parents are enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP. We need reproductive health coverage to provide for the full spectrum of women’s health needs. And we need public/private partnerships to ensure that jobs support working families. In this strong economy, we need to ensure that families have the supports that they need to survive and thrive. Assessing U.S. Women’s Economic Progress since 1995 CPA’s 5 Year State-by-State Snapshot of Women’s Key Economic Indicators Thousands of women from around the world will gather in New York June 5-9 for a U.N. Special Session (known as "Beijing +5") to assess what governments have done to advance the status of women since the 1995 U.N. Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China. In preparation for assessments taking place in New York, CPA has compiled state-by-state indicators of U.S. women’s economic progress over the last five years including an examination of policy movement since 1995 on equal pay, family leave, entrepreneurship and the Convention to End Discrimination Against Women. Detailed state-by-state facts on women’s economic status can be found on CPA’s web site at www.stateaction.org. The Family and Work Snapshot looks at childcare workers’ wages as a percentage of median earnings along with the percent of 65 and older population who are women. Women’s Health and Security Snapshot looks at the percentage of women and children without health care. Women’s Entrepreneurship Snapshot examines the percentages of businesses owned by women and the sales revenue generated since 1995. Women’s Economic Security Snapshot includes data on women’s earnings as a percentage of men’s along with the percent of women at or below the federal poverty level. State of the States: Health Care State Rank % Women Without Health Care1 % Change 1993-1995 Rank % Children Without Health Care2 % Change 1994-1998 AK 27 12.1 5.8 16 10.4 0.5 AL 40 15.6 1.2 35 15.3 -1.3 AR 49 19.9 -1.4 49 22.6 3.0 AZ 44 17.2 -0.9 51 25.9 10.4 CA 43 16.9 -0.6 44 19.3 2.6 CO 29 12.4 -1.8 31 14.7 6.2 CT 5 8.6 -1.8 18 11.4 4.7 DC 42 16.1 2.8 36 15.5 -4.2 DE 32 13.2 0.0 32 14.9 4.1 FL 45 17.3 2.7 44 19.3 0.9 GA 37 14.9 1.3 41 17.3 1.8 HI 1 6.7 1.1 2 6.8 -0.3 IA 7 8.8 -0.4 11 9.4 1.6 ID 27 12.1 5.7 39 16.6 1.4 IL 14 10.2 0.3 21 12.0 1.9 IN 17 11.1 -0.1 25 12.7 3.0 KS 25 12.0 -1.2 12 9.7 -1.6 KY 38 15.0 -3.8 34 15.1 2.4 LA 48 19.2 1.4 48 21.4 1.7 MA 16 10.8 -1.1 8 8.9 -0.6 MD 30 12.5 -2.5 23 12.1 2.1 ME 20 11.4 0.0 26 13.3 4.4 MI 10 9.6 -0.3 9 9.0 1.7 MN 4 8.0 2.1 7 8.6 3.2 MO 23 11.9 1.1 19 11.5 -0.7 MS 47 18.4 0.3 46 19.5 2.9 MT 25 12.0 3.5 30 14.1 3.9 NC 23 11.9 1.7 38 16.5 3.3 ND 5 8.6 -1.0 21 12.0 4.2 NE 9 9.4 -0.3 6 8.4 0.3 NH 15 10.7 1.3 14 10.1 0.4 NJ 31 12.8 -1.3 37 16.1 5.8 NM 51 24.1 -2.4 40 17.0 -3.4 NV 39 15.1 5.0 47 20.4 0.2 NY 36 14.5 -1.6 33 15.0 4.5 OH 21 11.6 -1.9 13 10.0 1.6 OK 46 17.4 2.5 43 18.5 -3.0 OR 22 11.8 1.7 27 13.4 2.6 PA 11 9.7 -0.8 5 8.3 0.5 RI 17 11.1 -2.9 4 7.5 -0.5 SC 34 13.9 3.1 42 18.2 6.2 SD 7 8.8 6.0 10 9.1 -3.4 TN 2 7.8 6.2 27 13.4 3.2 TX 50 21.9 -0.4 50 25.3 3.8 UT 12 10.1 0.4 20 11.7 0.5 VA 33 13.4 1.9 23 12.1 -0.1 VT 12 10.1 -2.1 1 6.4 -0.3 WA 17 11.1 -1.5 15 10.2 1.5 WI 3 7.9 0.5 3 6.9 -0.6 WV 35 14.3 -0.5 17 10.7 -5.5 WY 41 15.8 -3.1 29 13.8 2.4 U.S. — 13.8 — — 15.6 1.4 The ranking is based upon 1998 data. The percentage of women without health care is based on the total population of women in each state. A positive change indicates an increase in the number of women without health insurance. The ranking is based upon 1999 data. The percentage of children without health care is based on the total population of children in each state. A positive change indicates an increase in the number of children without health insurance. Sources: Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR), (1996) “The Status of Women in the States,” Washington, DC. IWPR, (1998) “The Status of Women in the States,” Washington, DC. Children’s Defense Fund (CDF), (1996) “Yearbook 1996: The State of America’s Children,” Washington, DC. CDF, (2000) “Yearbook 2000: The State of America’s Children,” Washington, DC.