At risk of stating the obvious, much has been written these past few months about health-care reform and the problems with our health-care system. What hasn't been as widely discussed, though, is the common practice of insurance companies charging women more than men for the same coverage - and the call by some, including Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., a senior member of the Senate's health committee, to "end discrimination." According to a Kaiser Health News piece:
The battle is playing out on Capitol Hill through the debate on health overhaul legislation. If a new law results in nearly all Americans having to carry insurance, the industry has said it would agree to end rating based on gender and health status in sales of policies to individuals and small groups. But the leading industry trade group and some of its legislative allies have balked at ending such rating in the group market where larger employers purchase coverage.
The rest of the article, which discusses why women are charged more and how Congress' two overhaul bills address the "gender rating" issue, is here.
