Study Data from University of Iowa Provide New Insights into Insurance (Trends In Health Care Coverage and Out-of-pocket Cost Barriers: a Gender Comparison): Insurance

2024 FEB 27 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Health Policy and Law Daily -- Current study results on Insurance have been published. According to news reporting out of Iowa City, Iowa, by NewsRx editors, research stated, “The presence of disparities in access to health care and insurance coverage can have a tremendous impact on health care outcomes. Programs like the Affordable Care Act were implemented to improve health care access and to address the existing inequities.”

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from the University of Iowa, “The objective of this study was to identify any disparities that exist between males and females regarding health care coverage and out-of-pocket cost to health care. This analysis was a cross-sectional study using the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey data collected between 2013 and 2018. The primary predictor was sex assigned at birth (with the binary option of male vs. female). The primary outcome was adequate health coverage. Survey participants who indicated that they had health insurance with no out-of-pocket cost barriers to receiving medical care were considered to have adequate health coverage, while participants who did not meet these criteria were considered to have inadequate health coverage. Covariates measured were age, race/ethnicity, educational level, employment status, and annual household income. SAS survey procedures and weighting methods were used to measure the association between the sex and adequate health coverage, after controlling for covariates. The data spanning 6 years included 2,249,749 adults, of whom 1,898,097 (84.4%) had adequate health coverage. Females made up 55.8% (N = 1,256,243) of the total sample. About 32.6% (N = 733,216) survey participants were aged >= 65 years. Most respondents, 77.6%, were White (Non-Hispanic). Across the 6-year period, females were more likely to have health insurance but with out-of-pocket costs that served as a barrier to their medical care (adjusted odds ratios with 95% CI from 2013 to 2018 were 1.36 [1.29-1.43], 1.38 [1.32-1.46], 1.31 [1.24-1.38], 1.33 [1.26-1.40], and 1.32 [1.25-1.40], respectively).”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Females were more likely than males to indicate an out-of-pocket cost barrier to medical care despite having health insurance.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Trends In Health Care Coverage and Out-of-pocket Cost Barriers: a Gender Comparison. Journal of Women s Health, 2024. Journal of Women s Health can be contacted at: Mary Ann Liebert, Inc, 140 Huguenot Street, 3RD Fl, New Rochelle, NY 10801, USA.

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Shannon Findlay, University of Iowa, Dept. of Emergency Medicine, Iowa City, IA, United States. Additional authors for this research include Uche E. Okoro, Karisa K. Harland and Evangelia Assimacopoulos.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1089/jwh.2023.0121. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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