You are Not a Pre-Existing Condition

Do you know who may be denied health insurance?

* Me. I had a Cesarean section. C-sections are pre-existing conditions.

* A good friend of mine. Her husband hit her. Domestic violence is a pre-existing condition.

*The one in six women who will be sexually assaulted. Rape is a pre-existing condition.

*Another good friend of mine. She underwent IVF. Fertility treatments are a pre-existing condition.

Ladies, we are NOT pre-existing conditions.

The list goes on:

*My cousin. She is having a baby. Many health insurance policies do not cover maternity care.

*My sister. She needs a mammogram. It’s not covered by her insurer.

*My neighbor. Her health insurance company charges her more than they charge men but her employer pays her less. She can’t afford coverage.

*You. If you are a non-smoker. Health insurance companies typically charge female NON-smokers more than male smokers.

Most gender-based discrimination occurs in the private insurance market, where the self-employed and small businesses find insurance. But even among the group health insurance market, gender discrimination exists.  Insurance companies are allowed to determine premiums based on the number of women a firm employs.

This is appalling. Health reform is NOT a political issue. It is a matter of human rights. Click HERE to contact Congress TODAY and tell them a woman is NOT a pre-existing condition. We deserve equal coverage for equal premiums.

(*NOTE: Clickon the title of this post to view a video.)

Read more on this topic here and thank you to the National Women’s Law Centerfor their report “Nowhere to Turn: Insurance Companies Treat Women Like a Pre-Existing Condition”  which you can download here.

Tags: discrimination, equal pay, equal rights, gender gap, healthcare reform, mammogram, maternity leave, rape, women's equality

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 4th, 2009 at 10:54 am and is filed under Feminist Forte. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.