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In Texas, an alarming 30 percent of women have zero medical coverage for doctor’s visits, emergencies or hospital stays. The numbers are almost as bad in Georgia, Idaho, Montana, Florida, Nevada, New Mexico and Louisiana, where 25 percent or more of the women in those states are without health insurance.
Take a close look at Massachusetts and it becomes clear why health insurance matters. Just 5 percent of women in Massachusetts are without health insurance -- that’s the lowest rate in the nation. This is due to the 2006 law that mandated health coverage for nearly all Massachusetts residents. As a result, the number of adults receiving preventive care, including cancer screenings, increased. Massachusetts women have the highest Pap smear and mammogram rates in the country.Here’s what else happened in Massachusetts: the number of emergency department and hospital stays fell, reports the Kaiser Family Foundation -- proof that people got care before their heath problems turned into emergencies.
Here’s how the states rank on health insurance. The #1 state has the lowest rate of women who don’t have health insurance while #50 has the highest rate of uninsured women.
| Rank | State | % |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Massachusetts | 5 |
| 2 | Hawaii | 10 |
| 3 | Connecticut | 11 |
| 3 | Maine | 11 |
| 3 | Minnesota | 11 |
| 3 | Vermont | 11 |
| 3 | Wisconsin | 11 |
| 8 | Delaware | 13 |
| 8 | North Dakota | 13 |
| 8 | Pennsylvania | 13 |
| 11 | Iowa | 14 |
| 11 | New Hampshire | 14 |
| 11 | Rhode Island | 14 |
| 14 | Maryland | 15 |
| 15 | Colorado | 16 |
| 15 | Kansas | 16 |
| 15 | Michigan | 16 |
| 15 | Nebraska | 16 |
| 15 | New York | 16 |
| 15 | Tennessee | 16 |
| 21 | Ohio | 17 |
| 21 | South Dakota | 17 |
| 21 | Virginia | 17 |
| 24 | Alabama | 18 |
| 24 | Illinois | 18 |
| 24 | Indiana | 18 |
| 24 | Missouri | 18 |
| 24 | Oregon | 18 |
| 24 | Utah | 18 |
| 24 | Washington | 18 |
| 31 | Kentucky | 19 |
| 31 | New Jersey | 19 |
| 33 | West Virginia | 20 |
| 34 | Alaska | 21 |
| 34 | Arizona | 21 |
| 36 | North Carolina | 22 |
| 36 | Oklahoma | 22 |
| 38 | California | 23 |
| 38 | Mississippi | 23 |
| 40 | Arkansas | 24 |
| 40 | South Carolina | 24 |
| 40 | Wyoming | 24 |
| 43 | Georgia | 25 |
| 43 | Idaho | 25 |
| 43 | Montana | 25 |
| 46 | Florida | 26 |
| 46 | Nevada | 26 |
| 48 | New Mexico | 27 |
| 49 | Louisiana | 28 |
| 50 | Texas | 30 |
All numbers are percentages of women 18-64
Source: Kaiser Family Foundation, 2010-2011
