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According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the labor force is becoming
more diverse, older and more female. Today, those changing labor force
demographics are already evident in terms of the increased number of
working women.
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Working women are likely to be the primary decision maker for the family
as well as the care giver when a family member falls ill. Therefore, women
need adequate knowledge and tools to satisfy their multiple roles as
decision makers and consumers of health care.
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Approximately 82% of women age 18-64 had health
insurance in 1998. The remaining 18% -- which translates into 16
million women -- had no health benefit coverage.
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Thirteen percent of women obtained insurance from
public programs, including Medicaid, Medicare, and CHAMPUS.
Seventy-three percent had private insurance. At least 49% had coverage
from a private sector job.
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Private insurance was obtained mainly through
employment-based plans. Sixty-six percent of all women had such
coverage, either in their own names or as dependents, 51% through
private-sector jobs and 15% through government jobs.
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Women utilize more health care than men, in part
because of their need for reproductive services. Females of all ages
accounted for 60% of all visits to doctors’ offices in 1998.
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Women make three-quarters of health care decisions
for their families and are more likely to be the care givers when a
family member falls ill.
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Data show that women are the primary seekers of
information about their legal rights under private employment-provided
health insurance, making 66% of the calls to the Department of Labor
in the latest quarter of 1998.
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Concurrent with the growth in
women’s employment has been an increase in the number of women with
health insurance through their own jobs.
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In 1998, 40% of women age 18-64, or
34 million women, had employment-based coverage in their own name.
Twenty-five million or 29% had such coverage from a private-sector
job.
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