Most people are familiar with the term “pink tax” — the higher cost of products, from razors to laxatives, marketed toward women. But a new analysis by Deloitte shows it also applies to women’s out-of-pocket medical costs. When combined with the existing gender wage gap — women, still, average $0.84 to a man’s dollar — employed women are at a significant disadvantage when it comes to their financial and physical health.
The analysis, which sampled 16 million U.S. lives under employer-sponsored health coverage, found that insured female employees spent, on average, $266 more out-of-pocket per year than male employees. This means that women are spending $15.4 billion more annually on out-of-pocket health care costs, not including premiums that employers are required to offer at equal costs to women and men.
Before you chalk up this disparity to the cost of maternity care, not so fast. The above averages exclude pregnancy-related care, which accounted for less than 2% of the difference.
Armed with this information, employers have the opportunity, if not responsibility, to help close the gap by designing more equitable benefit programs for all employees. Employers should work with their health insurance carriers to modify benefits with the goal of closing gaps in financial or health outcomes. It may be less costly than you think.
“While the amount is large, closing this gap using enhanced products that modify cost sharing for certain services would likely cost the average employer offering coverage less than $12 per employee per year, or less than $1 per month,” the analysis states.
Women receive some services, such as radiology, laboratory and mental health care, more frequently than men. Working with your insurance carrier to understand the unique health needs of your workforce is a good first step to increasing health affordability and equity in your organization.
It’s an investment worth making.
