The number of women in California going without health insurance has increased in recent years, according to the Public Health Institute (PHI).
A PHI policy brief reveals almost a quarter of the state's non-elderly women did not have coverage in 2009, a number that increased over the preceding two-year period. The rate of women uninsured for part or all of the year was already 21 percent in 2007, and rose to 24 percent in 2009.
The report authors attribute the lack on insurance coverage for California women partly to a decrease in the availability of employer-sponsored health insurance, an important source which dried up recently as employers struggled to cut costs to cope with economic hardships and some women lost jobs. The researchers indicate about 2.8 million women between the ages on 18 and 64 had no insurance in California alone. Similar effects may have been felt throughout the nation, to varying extents.
"Clearly, the implementation of the Affordable Care Act is coming at a crucial time for California women," said lead author Roberta Wyn. "These are challenging times, and it is important to move forward in expanding coverage and access."
The burden was focused, according to the report, on young and poor women. Less than 40 percent of women aged 18 to 29 had employment-based insurance, and almost half of the lowest-income women in the state had no coverage during 2009.
