The National Women’s Law Center, a Washington D.C.-based organization that fights for laws and public policies that benefit women and their families, recently released a report that shows the effect on low-income women in states that have not yet expanded their Medicaid programs. The report indicated that there are 3.1 million women who do not have health insurance.
Millions of Women Caught in the Gap
There are 25 states that have not yet expanded Medicaid. Expanding Medicaid would allow more women to qualify for Medicaid health insurance. However, over 3 million women are caught in the gap; they have incomes below the poverty level but their incomes are not low enough to qualify for Medicaid. So they are going without needed health care.
Not Even Getting Basic Healthcare
This represents a large number of women who are falling through the cracks and not getting basic health care and preventive services such as mammograms and HIV testing. In fact, low-income women without health insurance are less likely to get health care service than low-income women with public or private health insurance because they don't qualify for Medicaid and the cost for health care is higher.
25 Down, 25 To Go
Although 25 states and the District of Columbia have already expanded their Medicaid programs, which allows more people to qualify for subsidized health coverage, there remains 25 states who are still waiting to decide whether or not they will expand their Medicaid programs.
