Big Medical Expenses Set Women Further Back Than Men

(Bloomberg) -- Credit card debt jumps for women—but not for men—in the year after an extraordinary medical expense, according to a new study.

The finding, from an analysis of more than 200,000 core checking account customers of Chase Bank, has implications for current efforts by the Republican Congress and President Donald Trump to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. The bill passed by the House, which gives states flexibility in deciding what insurance must cover (including maternity expenses), is likely to drive up out-of-pocket expenses for many women and men. According to this new report, women are already operating at a distinct disadvantage.

The JPMorgan Chase Institute didn’t quite connect the dots between its research and the current health-care debate. But in a statement, Diana Farrell, its president and chief executive officer, said, “Should out-of-pocket healthcare costs increase for women, they may have to shoulder more of the economic burden of receiving care than men do.”

In an interview, Farrell said, “We’re trying to just expand the ways in which people think about this issue,” taking into account the financial consequences of health-care reform along with the medical ones.

Women start out behind men even before there’s an extraordinary medical expense, having, on average, 20 percent lower income, spending, and liquid assets, the study found. Women with families had credit card debt equal to about 0.8 months of income, vs. 0.6 months for men with families. A year after an extraordinary medical payment, women’s credit card debt was up to 0.9 months of income, while men’s debt was unchanged at 0.6 months.

One in six families makes an extraordinary medical payment in any given year, the study found. “Extraordinary” is defined as at least $400, at least 1 percent of annual income, and at least two standard deviations away from the norm, which means in the top 2.5 percent of expenses in the category.

The research compared checking accounts in which the primary account holder was a woman to ones in which the primary holder was a man. Researchers looked at accounts in which they were able to categorize at least 80 percent of expenses. Identifying details were stripped away so the researchers couldn’t tell whom the accounts belonged to. Chase Bank and the institute are both part of JPMorgan Chase & Co.

A spokeswoman for the institute said that the research was released “just in time for 50/50 Day,” which is May 10. Filmmaker Tiffany Shlain, founder of the Webby Awards, created 50/50 Day, held for the first time this year, to “get to a more gender-balanced world.”

To contact the author of this story: Peter Coy in New York at pcoy3@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Rovella at drovella@bloomberg.net.