Introduction 1 2 4 5 4 4 6 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 4 16 Improving health coverage for women of childbearing age 17 17 Uninsured women 17 18 17 19 20 1 17 Fig. 1 Percent of Non-Elderly U.S. Women who are Unisured, By Age, 2004  Medicaid as a source of coverage for women's health and PCC 21 22 17 23 24 Some States have used waiver authority to expand Medicaid coverage to low income, uninsured adults – particularly the parents of children with publicly subsidized coverage. Parents in low-income families may be covered under so-called Section 1931 expansions, which do not require a waiver. More than 40 states and the District of Columbia provide Medicaid coverage to low-income parents through this option. The majority extend short-term coverage to unemployed parents, while other states extend coverage to parents with incomes to 50, 100, or 199 percent FPL, without regard to employment status. Washington State is one state that has used this option to large effect, extending eligibility to 200 percent FPL. 25 Comprehensive and HIFA waivers designed to increase health coverage among low-income adults 26 26 With enactment of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA), states have increased flexibility to extend coverage, structure alternative benefit packages, and adopt premium and cost sharing requirements without a federal waiver. The DRA creates the potential for states to expand coverage to additional low-income adults, and some states (e.g., Kentucky, West Virginia) are considering expansions to parents of children with Medicaid or other publicly subsidized coverage under the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Such expansions may use limited benefit packages. Family planning and interconception care waivers 27 28 29 30 Public financing to improve access to primary care 31 33 34 35 36 37 38 17 14 39 40 14 17 41 42 43 44 42 45 46 47 48 49 41 Financing public health programs and projects 50 27 51 52 53 54 55 51 56 57 Public health programs funded through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), particularly those offering screening and related services for sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS also could do more to provide preconception risk assessment and health promotion. Such programs targeted to high risk women are not, however, substitutes for access to primary care and health care coverage. Conclusions 58 59 60 62