Being Female is a Pre-Existing Condition: The Health Insurance Disparity

by Zoe Cruz (New York City)

Despite earning fewer cents on each dollar men earn, we women pay more for many of our daily products and services, from haircuts to dry cleaning to socks. But, according to an article recently published in the New York Times, women are also paying another penalty – a significantly higher premium for the same insurance coverage than men.

In the individual insurance market, a woman who is of the same age and has the same occupation is, in some cases, being charged almost 50% more than her male counterpart who is of the same age and occupation. Why is this? Insurers claim that the higher premiums are necessary because women during childbearing years tend to avail themselves more of healthcare benefits. The insurance companies point to an increased cost to insure women not only for childbearing costs but also because women are more likely than men to get checkups, see doctors when they are sick, and actually take the medicine they are prescribed.

The difference in premium costs is staggering. Robert Pear, the author of the NYT article, relying on data from eHealth.com and a rate table published by the insurance industry, wrote:

“For a Portrait plan with a $2,500 deductible, a 30-year-old woman pays 31 percent more than a man of the same age in Denver or Chicago and 32 percent more in Tallahassee, Fla.

In Columbus, Ohio, a 30-year-old woman pays 49 percent more than a man of the same age for Anthem’s Blue Access Economy plan. The woman’s monthly premium is $92.87, while a man pays $62.30. At age 40, the gap is somewhat smaller, with Anthem charging women 38 percent more than men for that policy.”

Currently, only nine states protect against the use of gender to set premiums in the individual health insurance market. It is clear that much more needs to be done. As Marcia D. Greenberger, co-president of the National Women’s Law Center, said in the New York Times article, “We should not tolerate women having to pay more for health insurance, just as we do not tolerate the practice of using race as a factor in setting rates.”

And higher premiums are not the disadvantage women face with regard to insurance coverage. A report issued by the Commonwealth Fund in 2007 underscored the problems. “Women have greater difficulty affording health care services even once they are insured. On average, women have lower incomes than men and therefore have greater difficulty paying premiums. Women also are less likely than men to have coverage through their own employer and more likely to obtain coverage through their spouses; are more likely than men to have higher out-of-pocket health care expenses…”

These problems are likely to be exacerbated in the current economic climate with increasing unemployment, which many have predicted will disproportionately affect women. With the issue of healthcare purportedly high on the Obama administration’s list, we can only hope that it will include measures to abolish the penalty paid by women for for equal health care coverage.