What's that? Health insurance more likely for those with a college degree??

Women with college degrees are more likely to have health insurance, according to a UCLA study. OK -- this is not exactly a staggering finding. But it's a significant one.

It underscores that encouraging women to pursue secondary and tertiary education is important for a multitude of reasons, not just for a career, says the study's lead author Roberta Wyn.

“The relationship between education and healthcare coverage is not something that is often discussed. Income is discussed as a factor more often,” Wyn, a women's health expert at UCLA's Center for Health Policy Research, said in an interview.

The paper, released this month, number-crunched data from the 2007 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS), the nation's largest state health survey, which conducts periodic phone interviews of more than 50,000 Californians, including adults, teens and kids. This particular study examined health insurance coverage of women in conjunction with a range of factors — age, income, ethnicity, family structure and education.

The findings reinforced results from previous studies — that minorities, women at lower income levels, single women and mothers had a higher likelihood of being uninsured. The relationship between healthcare and education had not previously been explored.

One-quarter of women with a high school diploma lacked healthcare coverage, compared with 11% of college-educated women, the study found.

The situation was even worse for women without even a high school diploma: 42% lacked coverage.

A similar pattern was seen when the authors examined the likelihood that employed women would receive healthcare insurance through their jobs.

Sometimes, it seems, even findings that seem crashingly obvious are worth reporting, if only to get the message out.  Especially in light of high healthcare costs and our slow-to-recover economy, reminding women that there are ways in which they can better their lot in life is useful.

-- Jessie Schiewe

Photo: Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[kjkj]

wow. captain obvious has struck again!

[kjkj]

didnt i comment yesterday that this article has info that's beyond obvious to anyone with common sense? why did you erase my comment? too scared?

[jagexxx]

But poorer, less educated women get free healthcare from the state (us taxpayers), correct?

Poorer, less educated women have more children they can't adequately take care of, correct?

[SFSharon]

Huh?

College grad (State University of New York, 1983). No insurance since 2008. It's not necessarily having the degree, but the field in which one got that degree, and one's work history, marital status, etc.

College did a lot of good things for me...but health insurance isn't one of them. Get the degree, yes, but also develop good sustainable skills that will serve you well through good times and bad.

[Ron]

Its always about the women. Reading all the articles on health, fitness, finances, and such that women were the only people on the planet.

Same thing with that nauseating, ubiquitous pink-ribbon silliness out there. The women get the funding (even though they live on average 9 years longer than men in the US), and the men get the shaft.

Thanks feminist movement. We owe ya one.