The Affordable Care Act includes many provisions that have an impact on women’s health, including cost sharing for contraceptives and no cost for procedures such as pap smears.
To help understand how Obamacare will impact women’s health, the Kaiser Family Foundation conducted a survey of 2,907 women, ages 18-64, and their health. It had a number of findings for all women. Here are some of the findings for Latinas:
_ Of the nation’s women 18- to 64-years-old, 14 percent are Hispanic.
_ Twenty-eight percent of Latinas report their health as fair or poor compared to 15 percent of all women between the ages of 18 to 64.
_ Just 38 percent of Latinas have health insurance through their employer, compared to 66 percent of white women and 47 percent of black women.
_ Fourteen percent of Latinas have Medicaid coverage, compared to 7 percent of white women and 17 percent of black women.
_ Latinas are most likely to be uninsured, 36 percent, compared to black women, 22 percent and white women, 13 percent.
_ Sixty percent of Latinas do not use prescription drugs, compared to 45 percent of black women and 39 percent of white women.
_ While three-quarters of white women got their contraceptive care at a doctor’s office or HMO, only 43 percent of Latinas did.
--Suzanne Gamboa
