Tell Sen. Stabenow “Thanks for sticking up for moms!”
Posted September 25th, 2009 by AnitaMany of our members are shocked to find out that most health insurance policies sold on the individual market do not cover maternity care at all.[1] Take, for example, Rebecca from New Mexico, who just wrote us this note last week:
“My husband lost his full-time job and benefits in January, so we were forced to take our chances in the individual private insurance market. Despite the fact that I have to pay more for the same insurance simply because I’m female, I’m also subject to a special, female-only exclusion: maternity care. That’s right, if I get pregnant, my maternity care is NOT covered. The insurance agent we spoke with said this is common practice; private policies which include maternity are so expensive that she doesn’t even offer them.”
Can you believe this? And Rebecca isn’t alone. The vast majority of individual health plans do not cover maternity care at all.
Sadly, at least one of our Congressional leaders doesn’t seem to understand that maternity coverage is a fundamental need. Today, Senator Kyl of Arizona said, ““First of all, I don’t need maternity care. And so requiring that to be in my insurance policy is something that I don’t need and will make the policy more expensive.”
Happily, Senator Stabenow spoke up immediately: ““I think your mom probably did.” Amen!!
You can tell Senator Stabenow “Thanks for sticking up for moms!” at http://bit.ly/1UyT9Y.
[1] National Women’s Law Center, “Nowhere to Turn: How the Individual Health Insurance Market Fails Women,” http://action.nwlc.org/site/PageServer?pagename=nowheretoturn
P.S. Healthcare reform would require that maternity care is a covered benefit in plans sold through the new health insurance exchanges.
In a recent study of over 3,500 individual insurance market insurance plans nationwide, the National Women’s Law Center found that only 12% offered comprehensive maternity coverage, and those were offered in just half of the cities examined.[1] This means that most women buying on the individual market — including many women who are self-employed or work for companies that don’t provide insurance — are simply unable to get their maternity care covered and are forced to pay thousands of dollars in hospital bills. (What a way to start a family?!)
1 Comment
September 29, 2009 at 12:18 am by ChrisIf we choose to have children, why would we think that we can make this choice and have others cover the expense? What about having the cost of face lifts covered by the public for older women who are starting to show signs of aging? What about tummy tucks for those of us who have had several children? All of these healthcare services are choices as well. I think the greatest thing about being a woman is to have the ability to choose to have children. But to have the general public cover our choices means that others will experience higher rates, especially children. My conscience is not ready to pass the cost of my choices on to the health premiums of children. I am a supporter of many of the causes of MomsRising.org, but I fundamentally disagree with this position, and the organization’s position on a public option as well.
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