Senate HELP Committee Hearing Examines Need for Gender Equity in Health Insurance

October 16, 2009 — In testimony before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Thursday, America's Health Insurance Plans President and CEO Karen Ignagni said the insurance industry is open to health reform proposals that would prohibit charging women higher premiums or denying coverage based on gender or pre-existing conditions, such as pregnancy, CQ HealthBeat reports.

Ignagni also defended AHIP's recent study projecting that the Senate Finance Committee's reform bill would increase premiums. The study's methodology was widely criticized, but Ignagni said the message is that "costs are going to go up for individuals and working families if we don't have everyone participate." She repeatedly called for Congress to include a provision in health reform legislation requiring all U.S. residents to obtain health insurance.

The hearing's focus was "equal health care for equal premiums" regarding women's health coverage, and it included testimony from both liberal and conservative groups. National Women's Law Center Co-President and founder Marcia Greenberger said that women face many challenges in the individual insurance market, including finding affordable maternity coverage. A 2008 NWLC report found that 12% of individual policies offered comprehensive maternity coverage, while others offered riders costing as much as $1,000 per month in addition to regular premiums. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) said it is "a top priority" that health reform includes "access to affordable family planning services," which he called "a crucial women's health services." Franken added, "Access to contraception is a fundamental right of adult Americans."

Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) said a 25-year-old woman can be charged up to 45% more than a man of the same age for the same individual health insurance plan. She added that the disparity increases to 140% or more when women reach age 40. Women can also be denied coverage because they are pregnant, have had a c-section or have experienced domestic violence, Mikulski said. A witness at the hearing testified that she was denied coverage because she had undergone a c-section and was then told by the insurance company that she could receive coverage if she underwent a sterilization procedure. Mikulski said the testimony was "bone chilling," adding, "No one, no one, in the United States of America, in order to get health insurance, should ever be coerced into getting a sterilization" (Norman, CQ HealthBeat, 10/15).

ABC 'World News' Covers HELP Committee Hearing

ABC's "World News with Charles Gibson" on Thursday included a segment on the hearing (Gibson, "World News with Charles Gibson," ABC, 10/15).