Abstract
Introduction
Largely a consequence of historical gender differences in labor force attachment in the United States, many women rely on their spouse for health insurance coverage, particularly during late middle age. Prior research finds that this creates a window of vulnerability for women during late middle age who may lose their (older) spouse’s employment-based coverage when he retires from the labor force and enrolls in Medicare. However, the few studies that have examined this window of vulnerability have been based primarily on white adults.
Methods
We used the 2004 and 2006 Annual Social and Economic Supplements to the Current Population Survey to examine whether the window of vulnerability exists among non-Hispanic Black, Mexican-origin, and non-Hispanic White women 55 to 64 years of age, and whether similar factors contribute to the vulnerability across these race/ethnic groups.
Results
Women 55 to 64 years of age married to men 65 years or older had an elevated risk of lacking coverage at a time of life when health problems are common and expensive. Among non-Hispanic White women, their husband’s exit from full-time employment accounted for the higher risk, whereas a more complex and systemic set of social factors contributed to the higher risk among non-Hispanic Black and Mexican-origin women.
Conclusion
Ensuring adequate and affordable health insurance coverage among women during late middle age may require additional health care reforms such as extending Medicare eligibility to younger adults or basing Medicare age eligibility on the age of the older partner within a married couple.
Introduction and Background
In all developed nations, health care represents a core component of the modern welfare state. Basic preventive and curative care is vital for optimal functioning and productivity and has become a basic social right (
). Yet, in the United States, substantial gaps in basic health care access exist among a large segment of the population (
DeNavas-Walt et al., 2007- DeNavas-Walt C.
- Proctor B.D.
- Smith J.
Income, poverty, and health insurance coverage in the United States: 2006.
), in part because of our lack of universal health insurance (
Quadagno, 2005One nation, uninsured: Why the U.S. has no national health insurance.
). Instead, during the twentieth century we developed a complex system of health care financing based largely on employment and marriage such that individuals with good jobs, or married to spouses with good jobs, have access to high-quality and affordable health insurance (
,
Zimmerman and Legerski, 2010- Zimmerman M.K.
- Legerski E.
The role of governments in health care: Implications for women’s health and access to care.
). The system was based on the male breadwinner model of family economic security. That model, which was historically precarious for lower class women, has become increasingly unreliable in ensuring many families’ economic security, including health insurance. Indeed, health insurance “is no longer a taken-for-granted benefit” of employment or marriage because of a host of factors, such as industrial restructuring and job insecurity (
, p. 193), curtailment of dependent coverage and retiree health benefits (
Lambrew, 2010Scrambling for health insurance coverage: Health security for people in late middle age.
,
), and higher premiums and deductibles (
) which have increased the percent of income spent on health care across income groups (
Collins et al., 2008- Collins S.R.
- Kriss J.L.
- Doty M.M.
- Rustgi S.D.
Losing ground: How the loss of adequate health insurance is burdening working families.
).
This system puts women at an additional disadvantage when it comes to securing quality and affordable health insurance coverage, particularly in late middle age (55–64 years), for at least two reasons. First, the link between employment and coverage means that women who stay home to raise children or care for aging parents do not have their own coverage. Women who reenter the labor force in mid life may find it difficult to secure employment that offers coverage (
). Furthermore, older women often face employment-related age discrimination that makes it difficult to retain their current job or find a new one (
Gregory, 2003Women and workplace discrimination: Overcoming barriers to gender equality.
). Even employed women often lack coverage because they are less likely than men to have full-time jobs that offer fringe benefits (
). As a consequence, many married women rely on a spouse for coverage (
Short, 1998Gaps and transitions in health insurance: What are the concerns of women?.
).
Second, the link between marriage and coverage means that relatively common events such as divorce or a husband’s retirement from the labor force mark the end of coverage for many women. Married women are more vulnerable than men to losing coverage owing to divorce (
Short, 1998Gaps and transitions in health insurance: What are the concerns of women?.
). Although the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act ensures that women can temporarily retain their former spouse’s coverage, the costs can be substantial (
). Further, women with an older spouse who retires from the labor force and enrolls in Medicare often lose their spouse’s employment-based coverage (
Jensen, 1992The dynamics of health insurance among the near elderly.
,
Lambrew, 2001Diagnosing disparities in health insurance for women: A prescription for change.
, 2008;
Mutschler, 2001“If I can just make it to 65.” Measuring the impact on women of increasing the eligibility age for Medicare.
). Roughly 10% of women aged 50 to 70 who were married to men older than themselves reported that they became uninsured when their husband enrolled in Medicare (
Lambrew, 2001Diagnosing disparities in health insurance for women: A prescription for change.
). This latter source of vulnerability has received scant attention among social scientists, particularly regarding minority women.
Because age eligibility for Medicare is based on an individual’s own age (not the older member of a couple), a woman younger than 65 whose husband is 65 or older may find herself in a health insurance window of vulnerability until she, too, reaches 65 (
Schumacher et al., 2009- Schumacher J.R.
- Smith M.A.
- Liou J.
- Pandhi N.
Insurance disruption due to spousal Medicare transitions: Implications for access to care and health care utilization for women approaching age 65.
). Moreover, because the period from ages 55 to 64 is one in which medical problems are quite common, this window of vulnerability has potentially deleterious consequences for women’s health (
Xu et al., 2006- Xu X.
- Patel D.A.
- Vahratian A.
- Ransom S.B.
Insurance coverage and health care use among near-elderly women.
). As noted, women are at risk of losing coverage during this period of late middle age, and their susceptibility to certain health conditions often makes privately purchased coverage unaffordable (
Lambrew, 2001Diagnosing disparities in health insurance for women: A prescription for change.
,
Rustgi et al., 2009- Rustgi S.D.
- Doty M.M.
- Collins S.R.
Women at risk: Why many women are forgoing needed health care.
). Social scientists and policy makers point out that these disparities in coverage for baby boomer women could become more severe in the years ahead (
).
Our employment- and marriage-based system raises a second dimension of vulnerability related to race/ethnicity. Many Hispanic (particularly Mexican-origin) and non-Hispanic Black women lack health insurance coverage: 13% of non-Hispanic White women lack coverage compared with 21% of African-American women, and 42% of Mexican-origin women aged 18 to 64 (
Montez et al., 2009- Montez J.K.
- Angel J.L.
- Angel R.J.
Employment, marriage, and the inequality in health insurance among Mexican-origin women.
). Minority women tend to have fewer ties to employment or marriage, and they are less likely to gain coverage through these institutions. Among adults aged 18 to 64, Mexican-origin women were less likely to be employed full-time (48%) than non-Hispanic White (58%) and African-American (64%) women, whereas African-American women were less likely to be married (39%) than non-Hispanic White (68%) and Mexican-origin (67%) women (
Montez et al., 2009- Montez J.K.
- Angel J.L.
- Angel R.J.
Employment, marriage, and the inequality in health insurance among Mexican-origin women.
). Employment in low-income jobs lacking coverage among minority women and their spouses also contributes to low levels of coverage (
Seccombe et al., 1994- Seccombe K.
- Clarke L.L.
- Coward R.T.
Discrepancies in employer-sponsored health insurance among Hispanics, Blacks, and Whites: The effects of sociodemographic and employment factors.
).
In this paper, we focus on marriage and spousal retirement from the labor force, and indirectly on Medicare age eligibility rules, in contributing to gender gaps in health insurance coverage among women aged 55 to 64. Only a handful of studies have examined this health insurance window of vulnerability among women aged 55 to 64 (e.g.,
Jensen, 1992The dynamics of health insurance among the near elderly.
,
Lambrew, 2001Diagnosing disparities in health insurance for women: A prescription for change.
,
Mutschler, 2001“If I can just make it to 65.” Measuring the impact on women of increasing the eligibility age for Medicare.
,
Vistnes et al., 2010- Vistnes J.
- Cooper P.
- Bernard D.
- Banthin J.
Near-elderly adults, ages 55–64: Health insurance coverage, cost, and access. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
), and those studies were based primarily on white adults. We investigate whether the vulnerability exists among non-Hispanic Black, Mexican-origin, and non-Hispanic White women aged 55 to 64, and whether marriage and spousal retirement similarly contribute to the gap across these race/ethnic groups. We conclude with a discussion of recent health reform and its potential to address this vulnerability.
Results
Table 1 documents age-based patterns of coverage for men and women across adulthood, regardless of marital status, for the three race/ethnic groups. The probability of having any form of coverage generally increased with age for all race/ethnic groups, although there were race/ethnic disparities in coverage at all ages. In addition, younger women were more likely to have coverage than their male peers, yet this advantage converged and then reversed with age such that women aged 55 to 64 were less likely than their male peers to have coverage, regardless of race/ethnicity. After age 65, gender differences largely disappeared.
Table 1Percent of Adults With Any, Private, or Medicare-Only Health Insurance by Gender and Age
Note: Percentages are weighted; n is not weighted. Any includes adults with any source of private or public health insurance. Private includes adults with employment-based, privately purchased, or military health insurance, regardless of whether they had additional sources of coverage. Medicare Only includes adults whose only source of health insurance is Medicare.
We then examined how these gender differences in coverage corresponded with marital status.
Table 2 shows gender differences in having any coverage for married adults in column three and for unmarried adults in column six. The differences illustrate that women’s initial health insurance advantage over men declined for both married and unmarried women with age. Furthermore, among married women, the advantage eventually became a disadvantage among women aged 55 to 64 for each race/ethnic group. Among married adults aged 55 to 64, the percent of White, Black, and Mexican-origin women with coverage was 2.4%, 1.5%, and 3.1% less than their male peers. Similar patterns exist for private coverage (data available on request).
Table 2Gender Differences in Having Any Health Insurance by Marital Status and Age
Note: All percentages are weighted. Diff is the difference in coverage between women and men.
Because
Table 1,
Table 2 revealed a unique vulnerability of married women aged 55 to 64, we then focused on these women. As outlined, we examined how husband’s age and retirement from the labor force contributed to this window of vulnerability in the context of current Medicare age eligibility rules.
Table 3, Model 1 shows that women aged 55 to 64 who were married to men aged 55 to 64 had a 25%, 125%, and 42% greater odds of coverage than women married to men 65 years or older among White, Black, and Mexican-origin women, respectively, although the difference was not significant for Mexican-origin women. Model 2 indicates that the health insurance disadvantage among women married to men 65 years or older (compared with women married to men aged 55–64) was explained by his exit from full-time employment. In contrast, husband’s employment status did not explain the disadvantage among Mexican-origin women, and only slightly among Black women, married to men 65 years or older. For Mexican-origin women married to men 65 years or older, numerous factors accounted for their disadvantage, including family income and husband’s human capital (Model 3) and her employment status (Model 4). For Black women married to men 65 years or older, their disadvantage was only slightly accounted for by the characteristics examined.
Table 3Odds Ratios for Having Any Health Insurance Among Married Women 55 to 64 Years of Age
Note: The models are not weighted. Omitted references shown in parentheses.
In summary,
Table 3 illustrates that married women aged 55 to 64 had significantly greater odds of lacking coverage if their husband was 65 years or older. The analyses suggest that a large part of the explanation for this vulnerability among White women was her husband’s exit from full-time employment. These results, then, indicate that the reversal in the gender gap in coverage for non-Hispanic women aged 55 to 64 was influenced by her (older) husband’s retirement from the labor force combined with Medicare age eligibility rules that prevent younger spouses from receiving benefits at the same time as their husbands. In contrast, a husband’s retirement from the labor force explained little of the vulnerability among Black or Mexican women married to older men; instead, numerous other systemic factors seem to be responsible.
Article info
Publication history
Published online: September 15, 2010
Accepted:
July 29,
2010
Received in revised form:
July 28,
2010
Received:
January 25,
2010
Footnotes
Supported in part by infrastructure (5 R24 HD042849) and training (5 T32 HD007081) grants awarded to the Population Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
Copyright
© 2011 Jacobs Institute of Women's Health. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.