Women Buying Health Policies Pay a Penalty

[groovedaddy]

WASHINGTON — Striking new evidence has emerged of a widespread gap in the cost of health insurance, as women pay much more than men of the same age for individual insurance policies providing identical coverage, according to new data from insurance companies and online brokers.

Some insurance executives expressed surprise at the size and prevalence of the disparities, which can make a woman’s insurance cost hundreds of dollars a year more than a man’s. Women’s advocacy groups have raised concerns about the differences, and members of Congress have begun to question the justification for them.

The new findings, which are not easily explained away, come amid anxiety about the declining economy. More and more people are shopping for individual health insurance policies because they have lost jobs that provided coverage. Politicians of both parties have offered proposals that would expand the role of the individual market, giving people tax credits or other assistance to buy coverage on their own.

“Women often fare worse than men in the individual insurance market,” said Senator Max Baucus, Democrat of Montana and chairman of the Finance Committee.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/30/us/30insure.html?th&emc=th

[HereSince1628]

1. Men are 1/4 as likely to go to a physician. I suspect the actuaries

work that into the price of insurance.

[azurnoir]

2. This is "news"?

This has been going on forever, women have greater healthcare expenses doncha' know, for female problems like pregnancy and childbirth, one would think "Prolifers" would be up in arms, but criclets

[Uben]

3. I pay $15k/yr in premiums

...for a policy that has a $5K deductible and I pay 50% of the next $10K! I can only be $10K out of pocket in any given year, $25K if you count premiums. It's a shitty deal, but my wife has had cancer, and we cannot go anywhere else. They raise the premiums every six months, and we have another 8 yrs before she's eligible for medicare.

I am lucky because I have the means to pay it. The average Joe would not. As bad as it sounds, I actually saved a couple of hundred thousand by having insurance!

The average American would probably have had to declare bankruptcy, and probably would not have gotted the level of care we got.
I have faith that Obama will help ease the load on folks like us, but I hope he makes insurance affordable for everyone. Folks, a diagnosis of cancer will bankrupt anyone who doesn't have insurance, unless they are wealthy.