Go Read It: Health Insurance Reform is a Women's Issue

The Nation has a great post on why reforming the health insurance industry is a women's issue. It starts with the simple fact that women whose primary work is caretaking (of children or others) are ineligible for employer-based insurance, and may not be adequately covered by a spouse's insurance.

It's easier said than done to have insurance coverage prior to becoming pregnant. Sometimes life and work don't coincide that way, nor should a pregnancy be considered a "pre-existing condition," as too many policies do consider them.

And even if having a child is a far off or non-existent priority for you, personally, I think we can all agree that predatory insurers who target pregnant women with bogus insurance should be put in the stocks and pelted with offal for oh...forever.

Cynematic also blogs at P i l l o w b o o k.

Comments

[Karoli]

Here's another reason: 9 states allow health insurers to consider domestic violence a pre-existing condition. I couldn't believe it when I read that, but it's true. If a woman has the misfortune to be abused by her partner, she is re-abused by insurers in those states, who can deny her coverage. And care. It's outrageous, truly. Victimizing victims is evil.

[Meredith]

I had to quit a job when I was pregnant in order to obtain insurance. My employer had dropped the pregnancy coverage and my husband's policy wouldn't cover me unless I couldn't get insurance elsewhere. It is absurd the lengths we have to go to and I'm still lucky because I at least had something.