[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 9]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 12443]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             WOMEN'S HEALTH INSURANCE FAIRNESS ACT OF 2009

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. RICHARD E. NEAL

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 13, 2009

  Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts. Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce 
legislation that will end practices that obstruct women from attaining 
affordable insurance policies on the individual market. The Women's 
Health Insurance Act of 2009 would end discrimination against those 
women looking for health coverage who either do not have access to an 
employee-sponsored plan or those who earn too much money to qualify for 
Medicaid. Recent findings from the Kaiser Family Foundation have shown 
that 5.7 million American women in 2007 received health insurance on 
the individual market. During this difficult economic climate and with 
unemployment rising, it is becoming much more likely that more women 
will be looking for health coverage through individual insurance 
markets.
  Unfortunately it is common practice in the individual market today to 
charge women higher premiums than men for the identical coverage. 
Individual market insurers also can limit coverage due to pregnancy or 
delivery methods. This is because individual market insurers have the 
ability to deny coverage based on a ``pre-existing condition.'' For 
instance, a woman who has had a Cesarean section in the past can 
currently be charged a higher premium, imposed a waiting period, or 
denied coverage until she has been sterilized or can no longer bear 
children. The vast majority of these policies also do not provide 
coverage for maternity care. These conditions exist today because there 
is no federal protection to stop these practices on policies sold in 
the individual market.
  Due to the aforementioned problems, the Women's Health Insurance 
Fairness Act of 2009 is that much more important. This legislation will 
prevent insurers in the individual market from charging women higher 
premiums than men. The current practice is gender discrimination and 
should not be accepted in today's system. This gender rating harms 
women by not only inflating premiums, but by blocking women financially 
from obtaining proper health care coverage. Furthermore, this act will 
prevent insurers in the individual market from either denying or 
limiting coverage based on a current or past pregnancy as well as 
method of delivery. This bill will eliminate the insurers from 
punishing women who are either pregnant or have been in the past. The 
bill will also require individual market insurers to provide 
comprehensive maternity coverage. This legislation will not only save 
the insurer money, but I believe it will improve the health outcomes of 
both the mother and the child.
  To ensure that individual market insurers enforce these regulations, 
this bill will provide the Secretary of Health and Human Services with 
the authority to monitor compliance with this act. The Secretary will 
be able to assess fines of at least $10,000 against any health 
insurance company that fails to submit the required data. The act will 
also require the Government Accountability Office to issue a report by 
December 31, 2010. This report will address any remaining problems for 
women on the individual insurance market throughout the entire country.
  This bill will grant more women access to affordable health insurance 
that will meet their health needs. No longer will women be punished for 
their gender. I urge my colleagues to support my legislation to prevent 
this type of gender discrimination in the health insurance market.

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