Plumbing

by digby

Reason number 3,272 why we should trust insurance companies to be good corporate citizens and keep their premiums low after the government hands them tens of millions of new customers:

Checking the “female” box when buying health insurance is likely to cost extra — perhaps up to 50 percent more than a man would pay for the same coverage.

Gender-rating — or what some term as flat-out sexual discrimination — is linked to the simple fact that women, particularly those under age 50 or so, go to the doctor more often than men.

But outrage over how women are treated in the individual health insurance market is mounting as stories emerge of companies refusing to cover maternity benefits and denying coverage because of past domestic violence or cesarean sections, including a Colorado woman who was told she would have to get sterilized to qualify for insurance.

Federal proposals, as well as pending state legislation, would ban gender-rating and require maternity coverage, even as the insurance industry warns that lowering premiums for younger women could mean higher premiums for most everyone else.

Colorado women age 40 and under shopping for health insurance in the individual market, not through an employer, pay from 10 percent to 59 percent more than men, according to analysis by the National Women’s Law Center.

They pay more even when maternity coverage is not included. And in many cases, a female nonsmoker pays more for health coverage than a man who smokes.

“Women should not be penalized because their plumbing works differently and needs ongoing maintenance,” Colorado Insurance Commissioner Marcy Morrison told a state health care task force.

Isn’t that great? Because women are the ones who bear the physical burden of gestation and the responsibility that entails, they are paying up to 50% more in premiums. When Jon Kyl whined about not wanting to pay for maternity benefits, he was defending that status quo.

But sure, let’s trust the insurance companies to behave decently. There’s no need to assume that just because they’ve been outrageously gouging their customers for decades and penalizing the half of the population that has the temerity to visit their plumbers on a regular basis, that they won’t turn into decent corporate citizens now. See, they are more than willing to cover these women and everyone else now that the government is making it mandatory. What they won’t stand for is anyone telling them how much they are allowed to charge for that or offering up a non-profit competitor. But there’s no need to worry. They’ve assured all the important people that they will make their insurance affordable for everyone who is required by law to buy it. Really, they promise.

The truth is that they realize that their current financial model has probably run its course. The bad PR of denying coverage to babies and telling women they need to get sterilized to qualify is pretty overwhelming at this point. So they are “giving in.” And in exchange for covering everyone they require the freedom to charge these mandated customers outrageous prices, partially subsidized by the taxpayers, with no competition. It’s an awesome scam if they get away with it.

h/t to bb
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