Isn’t this sad? Apparently, being a woman in California means you pay more for health insurance, even though women are more likely to access preventive services, are generally more compliant with medications and overall, have lower usage of drugs, alcohol and tobacco. This is just another reason why state regulation of health insurance is a failure. Most rating could be eliminated by open enrollment allowing ALL citizens to access private health insurance simply by paying their premiums . . . jomaxx
Gender can cost you in individual health insurance
Some health insurers in California charge men and women differently for individual insurance policies.
See the link below to the column by David Lazarus in the Los Angeles Times‘s (6/22) (Consumer Confidential). Blue Shield of California charges different individual insurance premiums for men and women starting July 1, with women generally paying more. This is despite the fact that the plans do not even cover pregnancy and maternity care. A spokesman for Blue Shield said the company was using statistics to base their decisions. Also, Aetna, Inc. and Anthem Blue Cross are using gender as a factor in individual premium rates. Kaiser Permanente does not. The California Department of Insurance said there were no regulations preventing gender-based pricing for individual policies.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-lazarus22-2008jun22,1,1327960.column?page=1
Have you seen this NY Times article? “After Caesareans, Some See Higher Insurance Cost” http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/01/health/01insure.html?n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/People/G/Grady,%20Denise
rachel, thanks for a great link.
This article simply describes another in a long and growing list of actions by private health insurance carriers which are discriminatory. It further confirms the current status of health insurers as risk arbitragers versus true insurers spreading risk over a large population base of premium payers.
The blatant discriminatory practices of health insurers against women (such as refusal to cover oral contraceptives) as well as pregnancy and birth related issues (in this case the issue of a C-section IS a medical one – between doctor and patient) graphically demonstrate the fundamental problem with current system. “Cherry picking” of those deemed least likely to use benefits is NOT the action of a true health insurer (or any insurer for that matter).
Rates should be set by subscriber base exposure. The only way to level the playing field is to make ALL health insurers play by the same rules and force them to accept all applicants for insurance regardless of any medically related issues. As outlined, premium payment would be the only requirement.
Health Insurance Florida Individual Health Insurance Patient Safety…
I didn’t agree with you first, but last paragraph makes sense for me…