Guest AuthorWomen across Florida are leading households and we’re doing everything we can to support our families, but the odds are stacked against us — especially when it comes to getting the health care we need.
As a small business owner, I’ve found that it’s exceptionally difficult to buy affordable access to health care for me and my children. When I was first starting out as a single parent and business owner, I went without insurance for several months. I went to every agency I could find, but few options were available for my family. This is a reality that is familiar to women across the state.
The new 2014 Women’s Health Report Card for Florida underscores our reality: Our state is falling short when it comes to women’s health needs. The report card ranks all 50 states on 30 measures of women’s health, including coverage, access to care, and health outcomes. Florida was ranked 35th and got a final grade of D. In coverage for women, Florida ranked 47th and received an F.
Looking at measures of women’s health by race, Florida is doing even worse meeting the health care needs of women of color. Throughout the country, racial disparities persist across a range of women’s health measures. For example, in 22 of the 50 states Latina women were twice as likely to be without health coverage.
The report card is produced by the Alliance for a Just Society, a national policy, research and organizing network that has published pivotal reports on state and national health issues for 20 years. The results of the Women’s Health Report Card should motivate Florida policymakers to do better. Women in our state suffering needlessly.
Our elected leaders can start by expanding health coverage through Medicaid. Florida can accept federal funding to expand Medicaid to cover more low-income women and families. Instead, our GOP-controlled Legislature has stubbornly refused to accept the new funding, choosing instead to put lives at risk.
If state leaders continue to drag their feet, we’re going to fall further behind other states. Women who are denied health care — especially women of color – and their families will pay the price. So will our communities and our economy.
I was lucky to find affordable health care after months without it, but health care is a basic need and finding coverage should not be a matter of luck.
It’s time for state leaders to show they care about women’s health. Our mothers, sisters, and daughters deserve full and fair opportunities to succeed, and that begins with making sure every woman in Florida can get the quality, affordable health care she needs to live a healthy and prosperous life. Women deserve better than a D grade when it comes to our health care.
Ronda Wallace is the owner of Butterfly Tax Pro and is a member of the Main Street Alliance of Florida. The Main Street Alliance is a national network of small business coalitions working to build a new voice for small businesses on important public policy issues. Column courtesy of Context Florida.
