HEALTH-INSURANCE AND DISABILITY LEVELS FOR OLDER BLACK-AND-WHITE WOMEN IN THE SOUTH

For this article, the authors used the National Medical Expenditure Su rvey (NMES) to look at health insurance coverage for persons aged 50 a nd older. Although previous research has shown that race, gender, and region influence health insurance status, little is known about how th ese factors interact to affect that status. It was found that there is a crucial intersection of gender, race, and region in the reliance on Medicaid and in not having any insurance for persons aged 50 and olde r. Over 73% of southern Black women are covered by Medicaid, compared to 9.4%, 16.6%, and 33% of southern White men, White women, and Black men, respectively. Having no insurance or insurance coverage through M edicaid, being unmarried, and having low levels of formal education ar e associated with reports of significantly higher levels of disability among older women. The article concludes with the implications of the se findings for national health and family policy.