Women Paying Health Premiums Pay a Penalty

11/07/2008

The New York Times published an article on October 30, 2008 by Robert Pear finding that women buying insurance in the individual market pay higher premiums than men of the identical age and geographic area.  The data source is individual insurance companies and online brokers.

Insurers argue that women ages 19 to 55 tend to cost more than men. They say women use more health care, especially in the childbearing years. Insurers also say that claims information shows that women are more likely to get check-ups, take medications and have chronic illnesses than men.

In the article Marcia D. Greenberger, co-president of the National Women’s Law Center, an advocacy group that has examined hundreds of individual policies, says “The wide variation in premiums could not possibly be justified by actuarial principles. We should not tolerate women having to pay more for health insurance, just as we do not tolerate the practice of using race as a factor in setting rates.”

Among other specific examples in the article is on referring to Columbus, Ohio “[where] a 30-year-old woman pays 49 percent more than a man of the same age for Anthem’s Blue Access Economy plan. The woman’s monthly premium is $92.87, while a man pays $62.30. At age 40, the gap is somewhat smaller, with Anthem charging women 38 percent more than men for that policy.”

Mr. Pear notes that Maine, Montana and New York prohibited sex-based rates in the individual insurance market.

To read the entire article click here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/30/us/30insure.html?_r=1&oref=slogin