How Effective Will The Affordable Care Act Be For Women Suffering Health Insurance Loss After Divorce?
Approximately 115,000 women lose their private health insurance every year as a result of divorce, according to a recent University of Michigan study. “Given that approximately one million divorces occur each year in the U.S., and that many women get health insurance coverage through their husbands, the impact is quite substantial,” said Bridget Lavelle, a U-M doctoral candidate in public policy and sociology, and lead author of the study which appears in the December issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior.
Many women who lost their health insurance coverage remained uninsured for more than two years following their splits, according to the researchers who analyzed data from women between the ages of 26 and 64 from 1996 through 2007.
Lavelle conducted the study, which analyzes nationally representative longitudinal data from 1996 through 2007 on women ages 26-64, with U-M sociologist Pamela Smock. Their research was supported by the U-M National Poverty Canter.
Among the other key findings of the study according to a University of Michigan press release:
- Each year, roughly 65,000 divorced women lose all health insurance coverage in the months