Women's Health Insurance Fairness Act of 2009

Floor Speech

WOMEN'S HEALTH INSURANCE FAIRNESS ACT OF 2009 -- (Extensions of Remarks - May 13, 2009)

SPEECH OF HON. RICHARD E. NEAL OF MASSACHUSETTS
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

* 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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