Standout problems reported in the survey include negative interactions with providers, racial disparities, and gaps in awareness of insurance coverage.
Women’s negative experiences with the U.S. health care system are causing poorer health outcomes, according to recent findings from the 2022 Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) Women’s Health Survey (WHS), released this week. Seeking a better understanding of women’s experiences with contraception, potential barriers to health care access, and other issues related to reproductive health, including a look at social determinants of health (SDoH), researchers surveyed 5,145 women ages 18-64 between May and June 2022.
“Women’s health outcomes are shaped not only by access to care, health insurance, and affordability, but also by the social and economic factors that drive health, discrimination, and experiences within the health care system, which have become a larger focus in providing equitable health care in recent years,” wrote study co-authors.
Key findings from the provider communication and interactions in health care settings analysis include:
- Many women who saw a health care provider in the last two years reported negative interactions, with 29 percent saying their provider dismissed their concerns, 15 percent reporting that a provider didn’t believe them, 19 percent saying their provider assumed something about them without asking, and 13 percent reporting that a provider suggested they were to blame for their health problem.
- One in 10 of the women who saw a provider in the last two years reported experiences of discrimination due to their age, gender, race, sexual orientation, religion, or other personal characteristic.
- Though 58 percent of women who saw their provider in the last two years said they were asked what they do for work, only 30 percent were asked about their housing situation, only 20 percent were asked about their food security, and only 20 percent were asked about their access to transportation. Women with Medicaid and low incomes were more likely to be asked about SDoH than those with private insurance and higher incomes.
- Women also reported communication issues with providers, with 21 percent saying it was difficult to find a provider who explained things in a way that was easy to understand.
- Of women ages 40-64, only 35 percent said their provider ever spoke to them about what to expect in menopause.
Additional survey findings on women’s use of preventive services and gaps in awareness of insurance coverage requirements include:
- Of the women ages 50-64, 76 percent had a mammogram in the last two years, with higher rates among Black women (86 percent) and significantly lower rates among uninsured women (45 percent).
- Of the uninsured women ages 50-64 who have not had a mammogram in the last two years, 44 percent said they could not afford one.
- Thirty-eight percent of women ages 45-64 said they had a colon cancer screening in the last two years, with higher rates among Black women (44 percent) and women with Medicaid (44 percent) and lower rates among uninsured women (16 percent).
- Many women ages 18-64 reported delaying or skipping preventive services they were due for, most commonly dental services (52 percent). Further, 22 percent of women with children under 18 said their child went without or delayed a well-visit.
- Though the Affordable Care Act requires most health insurance plans to cover birth control for women without cost sharing, 43 percent of women ages 18-64 are unaware of their coverage for birth control. Additionally, some women were unaware that an annual check-up was covered (19 percent) as well as cervical cancer screenings (20 percent). Women with higher incomes and higher educational attainment were more likely to know annual check-ups and cervical cancer screenings were covered without cost-sharing, but knowledge of birth control coverage was similar across education levels.