By Brigette Courtot, Senior Policy Analyst, National Women's Law Center

Intrigued by the news headline “For macho men, doctor visits are less likely,” I recently checked out a new study showing that men “most devoted to traditional beliefs about masculinity” are considerably less likely than other men to get routine, preventive medical care—such as a prostate exam or a flu shot.  Researchers assessed beliefs about masculinity by asking 1,000 men how much they agreed with statements like “When a man is feeling pain, he should not let it show,” and “When a husband and wife make decisions about buying major things for the home, the husband should have final say.”  They found that men who buy into the “macho man” bit are generally the same ones who don’t go to the doctor when they should. Granted, the new research doesn’t make a clear cause-and-effect link between men’s beliefs about masculinity and avoidance of health care, though the lead author suggests that “deep-seated masculinity beliefs are one core cause of men’s poor health, inasmuch as they reduce compliance with recommended preventative health services.”

Now, let’s make some connections here.  First, we know that on average, men use less health care than women, including preventive care.  We also know that women are penalized because of this distinction.  Insurance companies typically justify the practice of “gender rating” (i.e. using gender to determine health insurance premium rates, often resulting in women paying considerably more than men for the exact same coverage) with statistics showing that women use more care than men. So gender rating, in effect, punishes women for using more care and rewards men for using less.  But why are men using less health care?  In some cases, they may not need it—they typically don’t have to go in for regular reproductive health visits, for instance.  But in other cases, as the masculinity study indicates, men might be skipping recommended care in part because of their devotion to “macho man” ideals.  And do we really want to reward that devotion?  Access to health insurance should be fair and equitable, which is why we need health reform that eliminates gender rating and stops penalizing those who need and use more health care, and rewarding those who don’t need or use it.

Cross-posted from Womenstake