Persistent gap : gender disparities in health insurance and access to care in California Health policy brief (UCLA Center for Health Policy Research) Becker, Tara, author. Babey, Susan H., author. Health Services Accessibility -- statistics & numerical data Healthcare Disparities -- statistics & numerical data Insurance Coverage -- statistics & numerical data Sex Factors Health Services Accessibility -- trends Healthcare Disparities -- trends Insurance Coverage -- trends Historically, men have been more likely than women to be uninsured, as well as less likely than women to enroll in public coverage. This policy brief examines gender differences in health insurance coverage and access to care using data from the 2012-2016 waves of the California Health Interview Survey. By the end of 2016, following three years of full health insurance expansion due to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (which went into effect on January 1, 2014), just over 10% of both men and women had gained coverage, leaving the gender gap in uninsured rates intact. These gains in coverage were predominantly the result of increased enrollment in Medi-Cal. Women remained more likely to be enrolled in public health insurance coverage, while men were more likely to have coverage through an employer. The gains in coverage changed the composition of the uninsured and Medi-Cal populations. The socioeconomic status of Medi-Cal enrollees and of men who remained uninsured improved. Men were less likely than women to have contact with the health care system, but they were also less likely to report experiencing delays in care. Though part of this difference could be due to the greater difficulty Medi-Cal enrollees face in accessing care, these gender disparities are also present by health insurance coverage type, suggesting that they cannot be eliminated solely by expanding health insurance coverage. Los Angeles, CA : UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, December 2019 UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, issuing body. Technical Report Text Illustrations 1 online resource (1 PDF file (8 pages)) nlm:nlmuid-101764551-pdf 101764551 http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/101764551 English California United States Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY license. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0