Healthcare Reform Will Insure 27M Women

NEW YORK - Nearly all of the 27 million U.S. uninsured women and will have access to medical care once healthcare reform is enacted, U.S. researchers say.

The Commonwealth Fund 2010 Biennial Health Insurance Survey indicates women are skipping needed healthcare. Forty-eight 48 percent say they did not see a doctor when they were sick, didn't fill a prescription, or skipped a test, treatment or follow-up visit because they couldn't afford it -- up from 34 percent in 2001.

"This report shows how rapidly rising healthcare costs and lagging incomes are leaving increasing numbers of women unable to afford health insurance and healthcare -- and millions are struggling with medical bills and debt," study co-author Sara Collins and Commonwealth Fund vice president, says in a statement. "But, the Affordable Care Act is already requiring insurance carriers to cover recommended preventive services like mammograms free of charge."

Thirty-three percent of women say they spent 10 percent or more of their incomes on healthcare costs in 2010 vs. 25 percent of women who reported similar spending levels in 2001.

Only 31 percent of uninsured women ages 50-64 reported having a mammogram in the past two years, compared to 79 percent of women with health insurance, the report says.

The 25-minute interviews of 4,005 U.S. women by Princeton Survey Research Associates International were conducted July 14 to Nov. 30. The survey has a margin of error or 1.9 percentage points.