[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 4]
[House]
[Pages 5091-5092]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       HEALTH CARE DISCRIMINATION

  (Ms. SPEIER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. SPEIER. Mr. Speaker, I'm sick of women getting the short end of 
the stick. On the whole, women earn less than men for the exact same 
jobs. In fact, compared to men, women basically work for free 3.5 
months of the year since we only make 77 cents for every dollar earned 
by a man.
  But here's something that's not free--health care for women. We pay 
$1 billion more a year in health insurance premiums than men. That's 
astounding. And it's not because ``the fairer sex'' is less healthy 
than men. In the individual market, a woman, 40 years old, nonsmoking, 
in Kentucky, actually pays more for her health insurance than a 40-
year-old man who does smoke. Even among 30-year-olds in Chicago, women 
are paying over 30 percent more for health insurance than men of the 
same age. In South Dakota, a 40-year-old woman pays $1,200 more than a 
40-year-old man for the exact same coverage.
  The fact is, women are at the mercy of the vast majority of insurance 
companies which charge us significantly more than men, even with 
maternity coverage excluded.
  Gender Rating in the individual market is wrong and must end.
  And if you want maternity coverage? Forget it.
  How's this for family values?
  For women who do want maternity coverage in the individual market 
it's an uphill battle to find it and an even greater challenge to pay 
for it.
  Maternity coverage is only covered by 6 percent of insurance 
companies unless it is mandated by the state. And the cost can be 
astronomical. Deductibles could be as high as $10,000.
  Some companies offer special maternity coverage riders. In Kansas a 
rider could cost

[[Page 5092]]

over $1600 a month--well over the cost of a normal health insurance 
premium.
  And some of the riders require long waiting periods before the 
coverage goes into effect.
  Insurance companies call being a woman a pre-existing condition.
  And they get away with charging women more for the same coverage as 
men unless there are laws in place to prevent Gender Rating.
  Thirteen states, including California, ban gender discrimination in 
insurance coverage. Fortunately, in 2014 when the Affordable Care Act 
goes into effect, the same will be true for the whole country.
  This is a long overdue step for women's equality and a key moment for 
health care.

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