Report: Health Insurance Gender Discrimination Costs Women $1
Billion a Year

92% of best-selling insurance plans gender rate

Common Dreams staff
Common Dreams
March 20, 2012

 http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/03/20-7

According to a report from the non-profit National Women’s
Law Center, the practice of health insurance companies
charging women more than men for the same coverage is
rampant, and costs women one billion dollars a year.

The report, Turning to Fairness: Insurance discrimination
against women today and the Affordable Care Act (pdf), states
that although insurance companies are aware of this
discrimination, they have not taken steps to eliminate the
widespread practice.

Some states have banned the practice, the group reports, but
it won't end nationally until the full enactment of the
Affordable Care Act in 2014.

From the report: "Gender rating, the practice of charging
 women different premiums than men, results in significantly
 higher rates charged to women throughout the country. In
 states that have not banned the practice, the vast majority,
 92%, of best-selling plans gender rate, for example,
 charging 40-year-old women more than 40-year-old men for
 coverage. Only 3% of these plans cover maternity services.

 "Based on an average of currently advertised premiums and
 the most recent data on the number of women in the
 individual health insurance market, the practice of gender
 rating costs women approximately $1 billion a year.

 "Even with maternity coverage excluded, nearly a third of
 plans examined charge 25- and 40-year-old women at least 30%
 more than men for the same coverage and in some cases, the
 difference is far greater. For example, one company charged
 25-year-old women 85% more than men for the same coverage,
 again excluding maternity coverage altogether. These
 differences result in women paying significantly more for
 health insurance every year than their male counterparts.
 For example, one plan in South Dakota charges a 40-year-old
 woman $1252.80 more a year than a 40-year-old man for the
 same coverage.

 "The Affordable Care Act applies nationally and eliminates
 gender rating in the individual market, requires all plans
 on the individual market to provide maternity coverage, and
 prohibits sex discrimination in health plans from insurance
 companies that receive federal funds or are conducted by the
 federal government. .

___________________________________________

Portside aims to provide material of interest to people
on the left that will help them to interpret the world
and to change it.

Submit via email: [log in to unmask]

Submit via the Web: http://portside.org/submittous3

Frequently asked questions: http://portside.org/faq

Sub/Unsub: http://portside.org/subscribe-and-unsubscribe

Search Portside archives: http://portside.org/archive

Contribute to Portside: https://portside.org/donate