“A Woman Is Not a Pre-Existing Condition.” So declared the T-shirts sported by several of the (mostly female) audience members at Thursday’s Senate hearing addressing the urgent problem of gender-based discrimination in the health insurance system. During Congress’ struggle over the past months to pass effective health care reform, this is one vital issue that has been falling between the cracks. Stopping unequal treatment of women by health insurers seems like a no-brainer initiative – one that we should have dealt with years ago – but it has not gotten the public attention it deserves.
In thirty-eight states, it is legal for insurance companies to charge women astronomical premiums compared to those for men, and to treat pregnancy and domestic violence as “pre-existing conditions.” A 2008 report published by the National Women’s Law Center shows that “insurers who practice gender rating charged 40-year-old women from 4% to 48% more than 40-year-old men.” Additionally, in eight states plus the District it is legal for insurers to refuse coverage to a woman because she has been/is being domestically abused. This practice especially, in which women are punished for being victims, is a horrific measure of how unjust our current system is.