Health Status
Health Coverage and Access to Care
State-level Data
Work and Family
Reproductive Health Care
Public Opinion
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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS).
This surveillance system, conducted by the CDC and state health departments, tracks health risk factors by collecting information on behaviors that are associated with preventable illnesses.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics.
Housed at the CDC, NCHS is a major source of vital statistics and health data, collected from a variety of sources, including birth and death records, medical records, interview surveys, and through direct physical exams and laboratory testing. Its annual publication, Health, United States, provides data on major health status, access, utilization, and disease incidence measures. Other major NCHS surveys and data of importance to women include the National Health Interview Survey, National Survey on Family Growth, National Nursing Home Survey, and studies on aging. NCHS also recently started a database of tables onState Trends in Health and Mortality among women.
Commonwealth Fund, Commonwealth Fund 1998 Survey on Women’s Health.
This survey investigated women's health care experiences across their lifespan, including their use of preventive care, relationships with their physicians, and their caregiving experiences. Chartbook and discussion of findings available online.
Kaiser Family Foundation, Kaiser Women's Health Survey, 2004.
This report summarizes major findings of a national survey of 2,766 women ages 18 and older, and examines women's health status, health care costs, insurance coverage, access to care, prevention, and their roles in family health care. The survey builds upon an earlier survey conducted in 2001.
Several smaller issue briefs based on the 2001 survey are also available:
Misra, et al. 2001. Women’s Health Data Book. Kaiser Family Foundation and Jacobs Institute of Women’s Health.
This book provides historical and trend data on a wide range of issues affecting women’s health, including social and economic factors, chronic conditions, reproductive health, mental health, violence, health behaviors, and access to and quality of health services. Information is included on disparities in health status and access to care among subgroups of women, highlighting the populations of women who are at greatest risk.
National Institutes of Health (NIH), Clinicaltrials.gov.
Provided by the NIH in collaboration with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), this database contains detailed information on approximately 12,000 clinical studies sponsored by the NIH, other federal agencies, and private industry. Users can search the database for studies pertaining to women’s health topics.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Women’s Health, National Women's Health Indicators Database.
National, regional, state and county data are available by gender, race, ethnicity, and age. Statistics are available on demographics, mortality, access to care, infections and chronic disease, reproductive health, maternal health, mental health, violence and abuse, and prevention. Allows users to search and create custom tables, graphs, and maps.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Research and Services Administration (HRSA), Women’s Health USA 2007.
This yearly chartbook covers major indicators of women’s health status and access to care, including disease incidence, health behaviors, health system utilization, demographic characteristics, and also discusses health needs of special populations such as immigrant women, incarcerated women, and seniors.
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Bureau of the Census, Current Population Survey (CPS).
The CPS is the major data source for estimates of the number of people with health insurance coverage, the types of coverage they have, and those who are uninsured.
Kaiser Family Foundation, Falling Through the Cracks: Health Insurance Coverage of Low-Income Women, 2001.
Examines health insurance coverage of low-income women, particularly the impact of policy changes associated with the 1996 federal welfare reform law, tracing changes in coverage between 1994 and 1998.
Kaiser Family Foundation, Medicaid's Role for Women, 2007.
This issue brief describes the wide range of health services that Medicaid covers for women throughout their life spans and discusses some of the policy challenges facing the Medicaid program.
Harvard School of Public Health, DiversityData.Org.
This website allows users to sort information on health and well-being in American metropolitan areas by many different variables including gender, race/ethnicity, family status and other issues relating to women's health.
Ranji U, Wyn R, Salganicoff A, and Yu H. August 2007. Role of Health Insurance Coverage in Women's Access to Prescription Medicines, Women's Health Issues 17:360-66.
This article presents findings from the 2004 Kaiser Women's Health Survey examining how health insurance coverage affects access to prescription medicines for non-elderly women.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS).
MEPS is the nation’s major source for data on health care spending. Major topics include per capita health spending, health insurance coverage, and health system utilization. Data are available for public use and can be stratified by a number of variables, including sex, race/ethnicity, age, and locale.
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Alan Guttmacher Institute, State Policies in Brief.
Provides monthly updates on state policies on abortion, prevention and contraception, STDs and HIV, youth sexual health.
Institute for Women’s Policy Research, The Status of Women in the States, 2006.
This bi-annual analysis describes state policies and ranks the states with regard to policies of importance to women in the fields of health, politics, economics, rights, and demographics.
Kaiser Family Foundation, StateHealthFacts.org.
This online database contains state-level data on a host of women’s health issues, ranging from women’s health status to insurance coverage to utilization.
National Conference of State Legislatures, Emergency Contraception Laws, 2007.
This database tracks state legislation regarding emergency contraception, including over-the-counter availability, age restrictions and Medicaid coverage.
National Conference of State Legislatures, HPV Vaccine Legislation, 2007.
This database tracks state legislation regarding the implementation of the HPV vaccine.
National Women’s Law Center, Women’s Health Report Card, 2007.
This bi-annual analysis of state policies and state ranking evaluates 34 health status indicators and 67 health policy indicators, and assesses state-by-state progress in reaching key benchmarks related to the status of women's health. The Report Card also provides an important overview of key disparities in the health of women based on race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability status, and other facts.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Women’s Health, National Women's Health Indicators Database.
National, regional, state and county data are available by gender, race, ethnicity, and age. Statistics are available on demographics, mortality, access to care, infections and chronic disease, reproductive health, maternal health, mental health, violence and abuse, and prevention. Allows users to search and create custom tables, graphs, and maps.
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AFL-CIO, Ask a Working Woman.
This 2004 survey focuses on the economic, health, and support needs of working women, including job benefits such as health insurance, workplace flexibility, and paid leave for childcare and caregiving responsibilities,
Harvard University, Work, Family, and Equity Index: Where Does the United States Stand Globally?, 2007.
This report from Harvard University’s Project on Global Working Families examines workplace policies in the U.S. and several countries. Policies include childcare benefits, family leave, workplace benefits and practices.
U.S. Department of Labor, Women’s Bureau.
Provides statistics and analysis on women’s economic and financial security, workplace participation, use of employer benefits including health insurance.
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Alan Guttmacher Institute, Family Planning Annual Report, 2003.
This annual report to the Office of Population Affairs, summarizes national data on women’s use of publicly-financed family planning services, particularly through the Title X program. The report covers the most commonly used methods of contraception, characteristics of providers, the major financing sources, and major demographic characteristics.
Alan Guttmacher Institute, State Policies in Brief.
Provides monthly updates on state policies on abortion, prevention and contraception, STDs and HIV, youth sexual health.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, National Survey on Family Growth.
The National Survey on Family Growth is a leading data source for reproductive health information. Data are available on rates of marriage, divorce, contraception, infertility, and the health of women and infants in the United States.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Reproductive Health Surveillance.
Database of national and regional statistics on numerous reproductive health measures.
Kaiser Family Foundation and SELF magazine, National Survey of Women About their Sexual Health, 2003.
This national survey reports on women’s sexual health concerns and knowledge, particularly on contraception, STDs and HIV/AIDS.
National Institutes of Health, Women’s Health Initiative.
The Women's Health Initiative is a major 15-year research study to investigate the underlying factors behind the most common causes of death, disability and poor quality of life in postmenopausal women -- cardiovascular disease, cancer, and osteoporosis. The Initiative includes clinical trials as well as an observational study, and received major attention in 2002 when it halted one arm of the clinical trials because of its findings on the effects of hormone replacement therapy.
Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Cover My Pills.
This site tracks policy activity at the federal and state levels as well as in the courts with regard to health insurance coverage of contraceptives.
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Catholics for A Free Choice, Religion, Reproductive Health and Access to Services: A National Survey of Women, 2000.
A national survey of 1,000 women on religion, reproductive health and access to services. The survey specifically examined whether the religious affiliation of hospitals, pharmacies, and insurance companies affected women’s attitudes about availability of reproductive health care.
Center for the Advancement of Women, Progress and Perils: New Agenda for Women, 2002.
A national survey of over 3,300 women on priorities and concerns, including women’s attitudes about health care and reproductive choice.
Kaiser Family Foundation and Roper Center for Public Opinion Research, Health Poll.
Health Poll is a searchable archive of public opinion questions on health issues. Public opinion data is available on health insurance coverage, women’s health research and health status, knowledge of women’s health issues, maternal and child health, reproductive health, and many other related topics.
The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, July 2005 News Interest Index, August 2005.
This survey on Religion and Public Life finds that abortion is more important than issues like terror suspect rights, religious displays, and affirmative action. The survey also examined public opinion regarding abortion regulations, such as parental consent and under what conditions abortion is acceptable
Acknowledgements: This Reference Library was prepared by Jane An, Usha Ranji and Alina Salganicoff, Kaiser Family Foundation
Last Updated: January 2008
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