COSWL Cause

A WaPo article on the Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Judge Sonia Sotomayor reflects the usual ' "no woman is good enough"' chatter we always seem to hear when a woman is considered for an important government post.

I found Princeton University Provost Christopher Eisgruber to be particularly snarky when he stated:

by choosing a nominee who is female and Hispanic, Obama will be "free the next time to push harder, if he wants to, because he's satisfied some constituencies."

Women are especially vulnerable regarding health care costs and coverage related to insurance as is reported in a number of reports. Perhaps this is why it has not received the attention it should get? See below the many ways women (and librarians?) are affected by this issue.

As the majority of librarians are women, this is a very important issue indeed for our membership. How well do libraries provide for insurance coverage? How affected are women librarians by inadequate or no health insurance? How does this compare to women as reported in studies below? How flexible are libraries in their health care policies? What solutions can ALA endorse and support for its members?

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Roadblocks to Health Care: Why the Current Health Care System DOES NOT Work for WOMEN -- http://www.healthreform.gov/reports/women/index.html
From Health Reform.gov

The current health insurance framework leaves too many women uncovered.

Twenty-one million women and girls went without health insurance in 2007, and another 14 million relied on coverage through the individual insurance market.3
Women are less likely to be employed full-time than men (52% versus 73%), making them less likely to be eligible for employer-based health benefits themselves. In fact, less than half of women have the option of obtaining employer-based coverage on their own.4

Even when they work for an employee that offers coverage, one in six is not eligible to take it, often because they are part-time workers. They end up either covered through a spouse (41%), purchasing insurance directly through the individual market (5%), on public programs (10%), or uninsured (38%).5

And even among women with the option to get health coverage through their employer, they are twice as likely as men to go on their spouse’s plan (15% versus 7%).6

This dynamic has several effects. Single women are twice as likely to be uninsured than married women (24% versus 12%).7

Married women in the 55 to 64 age group are particularly vulnerable to a discontinuity of coverage as their spouses go on Medicare. Among this age group, there is a drop in dependent employer-sponsored coverage from 39% to 34%.8

When employer-based coverage is not an option, some women turn to the individual insurance market. In the 55 to 64 age group, the decline in employer-based coverage is coupled with a rise in the purchase of individual insurance from 5% to 8%. This trend is not seen with

Women and Health Coverage: The Affordability Gap -- http://www.nwlc.org/pdf/NWLCCommonwealthHealthInsuranceIssueBrief2007.pdf
Elizabeth M. Patchias and Judy Waxman
National Women’s Law Center

ABSTRACT: Although men and women have some similar challenges with
regard to health insurance,women face unique barriers to becoming insured. More significantly, women have greater difficulty affording health care services even once they are insured. On average, women have lower incomes than men and therefore have greater difficulty paying premiums.Women also are less likely than men to have coverage through their own employer and more likely to obtain coverage through their spouses; are more likely than men to have higher out-of-pocket health care expenses; and use more health care services than men and consequently are in greater need of comprehensive coverage. Proposals for improving health policy need to address these disparities.

National Report Card on Women’s Health: Women and Health Insurance -- http://hrc.nwlc.org/Spotlight/Women-and-Health-Insurance.aspx
From the National Women’s Law Center and Oregon Health & Science University

Many U.S. Women Short on Health Insurance -- http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/05/11/Many-US-women-short-on-health-insurance/UPI-24901242014460/

WASHINGTON, May 10 [2009] (UPI) -- The overwhelming majority of U.S. women are either uninsured or underinsured for health costs and have medical debt problems, a report says.

The study, "Women at Risk: Why Many Women Are Forgoing Needed Health Care," also says 52 percent of working-age women say they have problems accessing needed healthcare because of cost, compared to 39 percent of men who said so.
The study "Women at Risk: Why Many Women Are Forgoing Needed Health Care," based on data from Commonwealth Fund's 2007 Biennial Health Insurance Survey.

Reference -- S. D. Rustgi, M. M. Doty, and S. R. Collins, Women at Risk: Why Many Women Are Foregoing Needed Health Care, The Commonwealth Fund, May 2009.

Kaiser Family Foundation Study: Women and Health Care: A National Profile -- http://www.kff.org/womenshealth/whp070705pkg.cfm

A new national survey of women on their health finds that a substantial percentage of women cannot afford to go to the doctor or get prescriptions filled. Although a majority of women are in good health and satisfied with their health care, many have health problems and do not get adequate levels of preventive care. The report also examines women’s health status, health care costs, insurance, access to care, prevention, and their role in family health care.