Men, Women, and Health Insurance

There is increased awareness of issues related to sex and sex roles in health care, including discrimination in the enrollment of subjects in research and in access to clinical care.1 However, there is less awareness of how private health insurance,2 Medicare,3 and Medicaid4 serve women and men differently. Explicit sex discrimination in health insurance is unjustifiable. Even so, men and women have different life spans and patterns of illnesses, so uniform coverage of health services may not serve both sexes equitably. Furthermore, differences between the sexes in vocational, familial, and political roles and in economic status affect what insurance men . . .