The Girls' Guide To The Economy Part 16--Health Insurers Use Misogynist Premiums As A Bargaining Chip To Save A Dysfunctional System That Doesn't Really Insure Women In The First Place

Despite the billions of dollars they have spent trying to protect their turf, it has  finally dawned on the health insurance industry that some kind change in the way we pay for medical needs is likely.  How else to explain the Hail Mary magnanimous gesture of offering to quit charging women more than men for health insurance.

Wow. Forgive me if I don’t sound grateful. Let’s do a little math…

Since I don’t work for a large corporation, I have  been paying my own healthcare premiums for some 25 years now.  At first they were quite affordable, now in order to have a policy that would truly protect me  if I had major medical needs, it is a significant outlay.  Rough numbers, probably erring a tad low, let’s say my payments for health insurance have averaged $250/month over that period. So $250 x 12 months x 25 years equals…wait for it…$75,000.  A recent article by the New York Times uses the discrepency in charges by Anthem as an example and since this is the company that I get my insurance from,  just for kicks let’s use the 38% number they use.  By my reckoning, that means I have paid $28,500 more than my imaginary twin brother.

Wow again.  Not only  am I not grateful, I’m steaming mad.

But the best part of this is why we get charged so much more.  Not only do we bear the entire burden of pregnancy-related costs, but insurers say, “they charge women more than men of the same age because claims experience shows that women use more health care services. They are more likely to visit doctors, to get regular checkups, to take prescription medications and to have certain chronic illnesses”.

In other words, we are  getting penalized for bearing children and taking care of ourselves in a very big way.  But wait, it gets worse.  According to Reuters,

• 70 percent, or 63.8 million, working-age (American) women are uninsured, underinsured, have medical bill problems or medical debt, or did not access needed care because of cost. That compared with 59 percent, or 51.9 million, working-age men.
• 52 percent of women were more likely to leave a prescription unfilled, skip a recommended medical test or treatment, or fail to seek needed medical care. That compared with just 39 percent of men.
• 45 percent of women had medical debt or reported problems paying medical bills, compared with 36 percent of men.

The reasons that women fare worse than men in terms of being able to afford health care  are obvious–we tend to be paid less, are more likely to work in low-end or part-time jobs that don’t provide coverage and then we get penalized for bearing children and seeking medical care.

These numbers speak for themselves.  The American  system of paying for health care is dysfunctional, most especially  for  women, and insurance companies have contributed significantly to this literally deadly debacle.  So when  those same companies try to keep their grubby little fingers in the pie by ending misogynistic profiteering, the answer should  be a resounding no.

And while we’re at it, the women of this country are  entitled to a massive premium rebate.