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Objectives: We used data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System to compare health insurance coverage, access to care, and women's cancer screenings for individuals in same-sex versus different-sex relationships.

Methods: We estimated logistic regression models by using data on 5265 individuals in same-sex relationships and 802 659 individuals in different-sex relationships.

Results: Compared with women in different-sex relationships, women in same-sex relationships were significantly less likely to have health insurance coverage, were less likely to have had a checkup within the past year, were more likely to report unmet medical needs, and were less likely to have had a recent mammogram or Pap test. Compared with men in different-sex relationships, men in same-sex relationships were significantly less likely to have health insurance coverage and were more likely to report unmet medical needs, although they were more likely to have had a checkup in the past year.

Conclusions: In the largest and most recent nationally representative sample, we found important differences in health insurance coverage and access to care between individuals in same-sex relationships and those in different-sex relationships for both men and women.

Copyright (C) 2010 by the American Public Health Association, Inc.