Reductions in the eligibility income standard for welfare has also been a factor in the increase of the number of families without health coverage. Diversity Minority women face lower levels of education, higher levels of unemployment and poverty, and the lack of private or public health insurance coverage. Among poor black families, 78.3 percent were maintained by women with no husband present. Hispanics are the fastest growing minority in the United States. Poverty and lack of health insurance are the greatest impediments to health care for Hispanics.
Lesbians experience discrimination and stigmatization on the basis of gender and sexual orientation.
Homophobic attitudes and behaviors by providers play an important role in access. When lesbians feel unsafe or unwelcome in health care settings they may not seek out medical attention as quickly or readily as do heterosexuals. Legal restrictions against homosexual marriages limits lesbian's access to spousal insurance benefits. The paucity of research conducted on lesbians and women of color is also an area of concern. After strong and collective advocacy efforts by consumers and advocates the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expanded the AIDS definition in 1993 to include some female specific symptoms.