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A new report from the Oregon Health and Science University gives the United States a failing grade in women's health. This is the fifth in a series of reports that began in 2000, and it's a look back at the progress and setbacks we are seeing in women's health today. The only areas that saw improvement were an increase in screening for colorectal cancer and a drop in the number of women smoking cigarettes.
The bad news is that more women are suffering from obesity, diabetes, hypertension and sexually transmitted diseases linked to infertility. And the findings that are getting the most attention are an increase in the dangerous behavior of binge drinking (having 5 or more drinks at one time), and a considerable decline in the percentage of women getting pap smears (the primary test for detecting cervical cancer).
From the Oregon Health and Science University, U.S. Fails to Meet Women's Health Goals (which were set by the government's Healthy People 2010 Initiative)
Overall, the nation is so far from meeting the Healthy People and related goals that it receives a general grade of “Unsatisfactory.” Of the 26 health indicators that were graded, the country received a “Satisfactory” grade in only three and received a failing grade in half.
Do you want to know the specifics of the state you live in? Here is a link to the state-by-state interactive map for this report card.
A large part of the problem is directly related to the growing numbers of women without health insurance.
- One in 5 women aged 18 to 64 is uninsured, representing a considerable increase since 2007, the highest rate since the Census Bureau began reporting such data.
- No state meets the Healthy People 2010 goal of 100 percent of women having health insurance; Massachusetts comes the closest with 95 percent of women insured.
- The disparities in insurance coverage between White women and women of color are alarming. Nationwide, 37.6 percent of Hispanic women, 32 percent of American Indian/Alaska Native women, and 23.4 percent of Black women do not have health insurance coverage, compared with 13.9 percent of White women.
More from the report on State Policies and Goals for the future:
In addition to health status indicators, the report also assesses 68 health and health-related policies. Of these, only two policy goals were met by all the states: Medicaid coverage for breast and cervical cancer treatment and participation in the Food Stamp Nutrition and Education Program.
Though most states have made only piecemeal progress in adopting policies to improve women’s health, many of the policy goals examined in the Report Card will be realized with the implementation of the new federal health care law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
But can these goals be met with the Affordable Care Act in jeopardy from the new Congress? This is from MPR News:
The report expresses hope that the national Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, signed into law in March, will slowly improve these grades.
There are, however, forces at work that appear determined to block any progress whatsoever on women's health. Note, for example, the cries to repeal national health care reform. And note the cries to "defund" Planned Parenthood being issued by U.S. Reps. Mike Pence, R-Ind., and Michele Bachmann, R-Minn. Their bill, which is waiting in the wings for the new Congress, would deny federal funding for family planning services to any organization that offers abortion care.
There is a lot of information in this latest women's health report card, and sadly, even the few areas that we are seeing some improvement, we are still far below goals. It's not good news for women.
I have my own thoughts on one of the findings. I've been thinking about the possible reason for a drop in women getting Pap smears.
In the last few years there has been a huge push towards encouraging women (and even young girls) to get the HPV vaccine. Although it's simply a vaccine to prevent the human papilloma virus, it has been touted as a "cancer" vaccine (but it's NOT). Let's face it, getting a pap test isn't
