Women Pay More For Health Insurance

[pandora]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17969710/

 

“High-deductible plans punish women for having breasts and uteruses and having babies,” said Dr. Steffie Woolhandler, the study’s lead author.

 

“When an employer switches all his employees into a consumer-driven health plan, it’s the same as giving all the women a $1,000 pay cut, on average, because women on average have $1,000 more in health costs than men,” she said.

 

I found this article very interesting... another way our health care system is seriously fucked up because it is driven by profit. My husband recently got a new job, and as with all his past jobs, because I am female and 26, I have to pay $500 a month for health insurance. Of course, we can't afford that. Luckly, this new employer decided to pay half of mine as well as my husbands. It's the first time I've had health insurance in 7 years.

 

I also found it interesting that the writer of the article referred to universal healthcare as "single payor national health system."

[Unknowing1]

What I found interesting about the article is what it didn't say, how many people don't have health insurance at all because they can't afford it and how many people who do participate in the consumer driven plan with high deductible put off preventative care (if not covered under the plan) because of the high deductable. Our plan switched to cover annual exams at 100% because it found that it was cheaper in the long run to pay for annual exams and catch illness in the earlier stages than it was to wait until such time as the person was very sick.

 

Of course the cost for women would be higher, they have more equipment to check than a man does and a womans body does more than an man's (guys I'm not insulting you but until science progresses, you can't physically carry and deliver a baby). Personally I feel that the cost of having a baby and the cost for birth control pills shouldn't be just assigned to the womans risk pool. They should be divided equally among the risk pool, in otherwords using a unisex gender actuarial factor and not just a female gender actuarial factor when determining the premiums to charge. It does take a man and a woman to make a baby afterall.

 

I think a lot of it has to do with awareness as well. Women are more likely to have annual pap smears and mammograms because of the push to enlighten women that it is a necessity. I find that I am more likely to have my annual pap smears than I am to have an annual physical exam. I can't begin to tell you when I last went in for an annual physical but I am up to date on my annual pap smear even though my insurance pays 100% for both. The push for prostate exams for men has not been as hard but it has increased. I personally think that as that becomes more widely publicized that you will see more men having them done and therefore the costs for men will increase.

 

The health insurance in America is reaching a crisis of epidemic proportions and something must be done to decrease the cost in addition to increasing access to quality care.

[Kurari]

Insurance companies also hold a GREAT deal of sway in the government. They have far too much power and they can do whatever they want.

 

Truth be told, it's not just people who DON'T have insurance, a lot of people HAVE insurance and they still can't afford health care. If you need something more than antibiotics for a bad case of the sniffles once in a while, you are in trouble. I know people who had health insurance and came down with cancer. One of them wouldn't even cover ANY treatment for her cancer. She had to pay all out of pocket. The rest of them are still fighting their illness and a debt they will never get out of anytime in their lifetime.

 

My mother can't even get state assistance right now with her hospital bills or anybody to take care of her since she's had major back problems for some stupid reason or another. It's criminal. I've seriously considered moving to another country just so I can get better health care. Check that, I can actually GET healthcare...

[Garnet]

I know what you mean about having health insurance and still not being able to afford things. A medication I need is $95 a month even with health insurance. Two medications my husband needs are the same thing..$95 for a one month supply. Guess what we're not taking? Now, none of these are for life threatening things. But in my husbands case, they are meds for arthritis pain. In my case, it's a medication to control acid reflux. We're both taking less expensive over the counter medications that really don't work very well but it's better than nothing or close to $300 a month that we don't have. I've also had to refuse taking mammiograms because the co-pay is too high. Fortunately, I don't have a history of breast cancer in my family...but still...I'm over 40 and I've not had a mammiogram since I was 32.

[Unknowing1]

Having insurance isn't the end to the cost of health care. You still pay regardless, instead of paying directly to the hospital or doctors office you pay to the insurance company.

 

Higher premiums mean lower deductibles and co-pays and wider coverage base on services. Lower premiums mean higher deductibles and co-pays and less coverage on services. I participate in a high premium (1200.00/month) low deductable 200.00 per person per year, low co-pay 25.00/physician or 35.00/specialist and low prescription co pay 25.00/generic drug. My trade off is to pay a monthly premium that is high and that I can ill afford in order to keep my payments low if I need to use services. A gamble, yes but one I have determined is easier for me. I can't come up with thousands of dollars to pay doctors bills and hospital bills should I become seriously ill.

[Vixentrox]

On a related note, I seen on the news the other day that drug company lobbyists amount to about 2 lobbyists for every congress critter there is.