For the first time, sexual orientation has been included in a major survey by the Centers for Disease Control.
AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File
For the first time ever, the CDC's National Health Interview Survey has included measures of American adults' sexual orientation. The survey — which was based on interviews done in 2013 with 34,557 people — aims to better understand Americans' heath and health-related behaviors. Though it didn't find that any one group has poorer health overall, it did find significant differences among those who self-identify as gay or lesbian, bisexual, and straight.
Significantly, it found that bisexual American adults reported higher rates of missing out on needed health care due to cost, and higher rates of going without health insurance in general:
Jim Dalrymple II
Gay and lesbian Americans also reported higher rates of not getting needed health care than straight Americans. And while the gay and straight Americans have nearly the same uninsured rates, the survey also reveals that 83.9% of straight adults have a "usual place to go for medical care." Only 80% of gay adults and 73.6% of bisexual adults can say the same thing, according to the survey.