And it’s far easier to get insurance to pay for viagra than birth control. So why should this surprise anyone?
Women Buying Health Policies Pay a Penalty
Women pay much more than men of the same age for individual health insurance policies.
WASHINGTON — Striking new evidence has emerged of a widespread gap in the cost of health insurance, as women pay much more than men of the same age for individual insurance policies providing identical coverage, according to new data from insurance companies and online brokers.
Some insurance executives expressed surprise at the size and prevalence of the disparities, which can make a woman’s insurance cost hundreds of dollars a year more than a man’s. Women’s advocacy groups have raised concerns about the differences, and members of Congress have begun to question the justification for them.
The new findings, which are not easily explained away, come amid anxiety about the declining economy. More and more people are shopping for individual health insurance policies because they have lost jobs that provided coverage. Politicians of both parties have offered proposals that would expand the role of the individual market, giving people tax credits or other assistance to buy coverage on their own.
“Women often fare worse than men in the individual insurance market,” said Senator Max Baucus, Democrat of Montana and chairman of the Finance Committee.
Insurers say they have a sound reason for charging different premiums: Women ages 19 to 55 tend to cost more than men because they typically use more health care, especially in the childbearing years.
But women still pay more than men for insurance that does not cover maternity care. In the individual market, maternity coverage may be offered as an optional benefit, or rider, for a hefty additional premium.
And how will McCain’s health care “plan” help?
Without substantial changes in the individual market, Ms. Greenberger said, tax credits for the purchase of insurance will be worth less to women because they face higher premiums.
Color me shocked.
Tags: gender, health care
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morning bumz
we need caffeine.
and maybe food
At a Catholic university, our health care policies do not pay for contraception. I don’t know if they pay for Viagra or not, but there’s no specific prohibition that I’m aware of. Of course, as a post-menopausal female, I’m unlikely to need either, but it’s open enrollment time again, and in comparing our health options I noticed the specific prohibition on contraception.
morning ms molly.
not a surprise
new shared items.
back in a bit
Hello and good morning.
I have heard a number of times, but do not know, that it is common that Viagra or similar drugs are available under insurance plans that regularly deny such coverage for contraception for women. Contraception coverage has been rare for many years. This has hit the news off and on. I suspect the news people don’t report it, since every time it is reported, there is uproar. I have not had any health insurance since my divorce. When I did check into acquiring some, I found the cost totally ridiculous and high. I have problems keeping up with my bills as it is on a single income from my consulting and research. BTW, I do better during Democratic administrations than during Republican ones. Big surprise.
This is something I have thought about for years. First, the ERA did not become law and if one simply steps back a minute and thinks about it, it is ridiculous. More than half of the citizens in this country are women, and many men favor it as well. How could it be defeated? Someone had to be very very committed to it. I believe it was insurance companies, which discriminate openly against women not only in matters of health insurance, but also in pension payments. Women live longer, and therefore their pension payments are amortized over a longer period — i.e. less per month. (This may have been remedied in law; I am not sure.)
We are conditioned to accept actuarial justifications for disparities in insurance rates, whether fair or not. After all, insurance is supposed to spread and share risk, especially risk of things over which we have no control. Yet hardly anyone blinks at disparate insurance rates for boy drivers vs. girl drivers.
Women undoubtedly have higher health costs than men. This might explain why they live longer. Or it could be the nagging.
Oh come on! Take a joke!
Don’t forget, Mitch, that when men finally do seek medical help they are likely to be much more sick than women. Women are more likely to do the preventative medicine thing while men try to tough it out. Men’s health care costs are lower because they tend to wait too long to seek help and when they do it is a shorter trip to death’s door, which is ultimately where for-profit insurance companies want you to go. If you die without having used much of the system, they make money. And THAT is not a joke. That is why profit needs to be removed from that side of the “care” business.
agreed gnome.
The talk of rationed medical care and socialized medicine is a bunch of BS. We have rationed care now. It is given to people who can afford it and withheld from people who can’t afford it. It is the pigs at the top of the pile that yell “ooooh, scary!” because they are afraid that sharing means losing what they have. The anti-”healthcare for all” argument has been the opposite of the reagonomic argument – healthcare for all means the sinking of a few yachts, not the lifting of boats that they pretend letting a few get rich accomplishes.
OK, I need to calm down and get to work.
I actually see those plans deny the contraception constantly. It’s why i’m usually annoyed by such a thing on such a regular basis. Most plans nowadays DO cover it, but there’s a solid 25% of plans that don’t cover it at all. But usually those plans don’t cover viagra or it’s cousin drugs either. I would say 80% of plans do not cover the erectile disfunction drugs, the few that do? Are the platinum pay through the nose types. The most common plans don’t do that at all. But the problem is the quarter of the regular plans that refuse to pay for birth control pills. It makes no sense when caring for a child is three time as expensive as not having one at all!
Bean counters have NO business in determining my patients care. Of that i’m sure of. For profit healthcare plans suck at the highest level, i’ve yet to see a decent one that doesn’t make us pharmacy techs run around in circles negotiating changes just so a patient can be treated!
i think i have a cold. going back to bed. noon post on the queue.
thanks for the perspective alias. i was hoping you’d chime in.
@aliasofwestgate at 11:27 am – Pharmacy techs rule! Mine are wonderful and go way beyond their job descriptions to help patients out – at least the ones at my pharmacy. They are not so overworked that they can’t take the time to get to know their patients and chat with them regularly.