Lawmakers Must Act To End Gender Bias In Individual Health Insurance Market, Editorial Says

Main Category: Health Insurance / Medical Insurance
Also Included In: Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 04 Dec 2008 - 2:00 PST

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Women as a group are "particularly disadvantaged" in the individual health insurance market, a St. Petersburg Times editorial says. The editorial notes that a recent study conducted by the National Women's Law Center found that women "pay a dear price for their gender, with premiums significantly higher than men's for the same coverage." For example, 40-year-old women can face monthly premiums that are 4% to 48% higher than their male counterparts for the same coverage, the editorial says. Premiums also "varied wildly" within states, it adds.

Because women with employer-based health insurance are protected from gender discrimination by federal and state antidiscrimination laws, "gender-based premium variations only impact women who try to buy insurance in the individual market -- a group that tends to include women who work at low paying jobs," according to the editorial. Although "[i]nsurance actuaries explain this persistent gender gap in health insurance pricing by claiming that women use the health care system more," the "statistics seem to tell a different story," the editorial states. It continues, "If the premium variations between men and women were truly based solely on differences in the use of health care, you would expect price uniformity. Because there isn't, the variations suggest bias has seeped into the system."

The editorial adds, "President-elect Barack Obama has pledged to make sweeping changes to the health insurance system, but until that happens, Florida lawmakers can at least protect women from being treated unfairly." It concludes, "The affordability of health insurance should not be a matter of one's gender, no matter what the bean counters say" (St. Petersburg Times, 12/2).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women's Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women's Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.

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