[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 35 (Tuesday, March 18, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E509]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       STATEMENT ON THE VICTIMS OF ABUSE INSURANCE PROTECTION ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. BERNARD SANDERS

                               of vermont

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 18, 1997

  Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss a terribly 
important topic: Domestic violence, and insurance companies' 
discrimination against women who are victims of domestic violence.
  We do not know exactly how many women are domestic violence victims 
each year because the numbers are significantly underreported. An 
estimated 4 million American women are physically abused by their 
husbands or boyfriends each year, and 42 percent of women murdered in 
this country are murdered by their boyfriends or husbands.
  I think we can all agree that the level of domestic violence in this 
country is a silent outrage, and it is absolutely unacceptable. That is 
why we must do everything we can to combat domestic violence. Further, 
it is why we can and we must prevent profiteering insurance companies 
from adding insult to injury by economically victimizing women who have 
already been physically abused. They are reacting to battered women by 
battering them again.
  We know that insurers have used domestic violence as a basis for 
determining who to cover and how much to charge with respect to health, 
life, disability, homeowners, and auto insurance. A 1993 informal 
survey by the House Judiciary Committee found that 8 of the 16 largest 
insurers in the country use domestic violence as a criterion in 
determining whether to issue insurance and how much to charge for it. 
State surveys in Pennsylvania and Kansas both found that 24 percent of 
responding insurance companies admit to such discrimination, and I know 
of two cases in Vermont.
  Insurance companies give a variety of reasons for denying victims 
coverage or for charging higher premiums. Some insurers say domestic 
violence is a lifestyle choice, like skydiving or smoking. That is 
absurd. We know that domestic violence is not a choice, but a crime. 
Victims do not choose to live with their batterers, but are often 
forced to do so for economic and safety reasons. When a victim tries to 
leave her abuser, her life is often at great risk.
  When insurance companies deny, drop, or charge more for coverage of 
victims of domestic violence, it has very serious consequences. It 
means that someone who already has reason to fear for her life has one 
more major reason to fear telling someone, and to avoid getting help.
  This insidious insurance practice sends exactly the wrong message. We 
should be doing all we can to ensure victims of abuse seek help and get 
away from their batters. Instead, insurance companies are telling women 
they must not only fear physical retribution from their abuser, but 
also economic retribution from their insurer.
  If a woman tries to get help, she must fear losing access to health 
care for herself and her family or insurance that provides for her 
family in case of death or disability. Battered women's shelters must 
also fear losing their insurance, as we have seen in my State of 
Vermont.
  Insurance companies are effectively tearing down all the work that 
has been done over the last 20 years in creating safe havens and 
assistance for victims of domestic violence.
  I am pleased to report that we had some success on this issue last 
year, when an amendment Congresswoman Morella, other Members, and I 
wrote for the Kennedy-Kassebaum health insurance reform bill became 
law. That amendment will ensure that victims of abuse will not be 
denied insurance in the group health insurance market. However, we 
still must prevent insurance companies from overcharging women because 
they are victims of abuse, and we must work to end this discrimination 
in all lines of insurance, not just health.
  Today, we introduce legislation to protect victims of abuse across 
this country from being singled out as uninsurable.
  Our bill, the Victims of Abuse Insurance Protection Act, prohibits 
all lines of insurance carriers--including health, life, property, 
auto, and disability--from using domestic violence in determining whom 
to cover and how much to charge for coverage. It has been endorsed by 
the American Bar Association, the American Civil Liberties Union 
Women's Rights Project, the Center for Patient Advocacy, the NOW Legal 
Defense and Education Fund, the National Coalition Against Domestic 
Violence, Women's Action for New Directions [WAND], and the Women's Law 
Project.