On the recordApril 18, 2012
I'm sick of women getting the short end of the stick. On the whole, women earn less than men for the exact same jobs. In fact, compared to men, women basically work for free 3.5 months of the year since we only make 77 cents for every dollar earned by a man. But here's something that's not free--health care for women. We pay $1 billion more a year in health insurance premiums than men. That's astounding. And it's not because ``the fairer sex'' is less healthy than men. In the individual market, a woman, 40 years old, nonsmoking, in Kentucky, actually pays more for her health insurance than a 40- year-old man who does smoke. Even among 30-year-olds in Chicago, women are paying over 30 percent more for health insurance than men of the same age. In South Dakota, a 40-year-old woman pays $1,200 more than a 40-year-old man for the exact same coverage. The fact is, women are at the mercy of the vast majority of insurance companies which charge us significantly more than men, even with maternity coverage excluded. Gender Rating in the individual market is wrong and must end. And if you want maternity coverage? Forget it. How's this for family values? For women who do want maternity coverage in the individual market it's an uphill battle to find it and an even greater challenge to pay for it. Maternity coverage is only covered by 6 percent of insurance companies unless it is mandated by the state. And the cost can be astronomical.…
