By Ted Gotsch
Policy Content and Publications Manager
In recent years, women in the United States have equaled or exceeded men in many once-lopsided measurements, including higher education attainment. As we commemorate Women’s Equality Day on Aug. 26, there are at least two areas where women continue to lag behind their male counterparts-retirement savings and health care.
As the traditionally primary caregiver to children and elderly parents in many families, women often log fewer hours on the job or leave the workforce completely, which may limit their Social Security benefits or their ability to save for retirement. American women earn less than 84 cents on the dollar than men according to AARP, a gap that grows even higher for older women.
At the same time, women tend to use more health services across their lifetimes, due to their longer average life spans. This care includes preventive care, reproductive health care, and long-term care in later years. Yet, they frequently encounter higher out-of-pocket costs and gaps in coverage, many times because they are working part-time without access to health care or for employers that don’t offer insurance.
On the retirement front, some of the barriers stem from our history. The U.S. retirement system was built around household structures that are now less prevalent in society. A June issue brief released by the Academy’s Social Security Committee notes that the “Social Security benefit formula was designed when the male one-breadwinner family was the norm, marriage rates were higher, and divorce rates were lower. However, times have changed. More people are single or find themselves single through divorce, separation, or death of a spouse.”
The Academy’s Retirement Policy and Design Evaluation (RPADE) Committee recent issue brief spotlights how shortfalls in spousal protections still remain, despite the fact employer-sponsored retirement plans provide important protections for many women.
As we consider potential solutions to help strengthen and grow retirement security for women, the Academy has highlighted:
- Strengthening Social Security by updating benefit formulas to better account for periods of caregiving, which would have a direct impact on women today and in the future;
- Expanding access to retirement savings plans, particularly for part-time workers, by encouraging automatic enrollment in employer-sponsored plans or supporting state-facilitated auto-Individual Retirement Account programs; and
- Promoting lifetime income options, such as annuities, to help retirees manage longevity risk.
As we consider public policy options in the health arena that would improve outcomes for women, the Academy’s Health Practice Council continues to focus on addressing barriers to care, the affordability conundrum, and understanding how to address inequities in the system.
Looming challenges include changes to Medicaid. According to recent Kaiser Family Foundation research, more women rely upon Medicaid to access health insurance. With recent federal legislation that will have a direct impact on the public program, coupled with statistics showing working women spend about 18% more out-of-pocket on health care than men, cost is a concern that cuts across geography, age, and education. That increase in out-of-pocket costs roughly translates to an extra $266 per year and that excludes pregnancy-related costs, which can easily mean an extra $18,865.
Potential policy solutions that Congress and other policymakers could consider include:
- Expanding affordable coverage via Affordable Care Act marketplace subsidies and Medicaid in all states while ensuring plans cover long-term care and preventive services cost-effectively;
- Requiring insurance value parity, so women don’t receive lower value relative to premiums; and,
- Investing in community health programs to reduce delays in diagnosis for chronic and reproductive health conditions.
Women’s Equality Day demands awareness of and commitment to data-based policy interventions. Bridging the retirement gap and closing health care inequities are two concrete ways to address some key concerns for women in the U.S. The Academy, in its mission to address public policy solutions for the benefit of the public, recognizes that the public includes the more than 169 million women who live and work in the U.S. Strengthening retirement security and health outcomes for women will benefit us all-which is a win for everyone.