Written by Judy Waxman, Vice President for Health and Reproductive Rights,
National Women's Law Center
I don’t deserve health care that meets my needs.
I shouldn’t demand fairness in my health care coverage.
I can’t do anything about it anyway.
That’s what the health insurance profiteers want you to think.
They aren’t thinking about the mother who is struggling to find insurance because she had a Caesarean section. Not the woman who survived domestic violence and now must face rejection by an insurance company for having a so-called “pre-existing condition.” Not the woman who pays more than a man for the same health coverage, even when maternity care isn’t covered.
Being a woman is NOT a pre-existing condition.
Watch the video and take action.
Here at the National Women’s Law Center, we’ve worked hard to uncover and fight against the outrageous insurance practices women face. Now we’re leading the charge to make sure the voice of every woman in America rings through the halls of Congress in the final push for health care reform. Because we know that women and their families need health care reform that works for them — and they need it now.
Be a part of our new campaign, Being a Woman is Not a Pre-existing Condition. Visit www.AWomanIsNotaPreexistingCondition.com.
And spread the word to all the women in your life. You’re not a pre-existing condition — and neither are they.
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How about being a diabetic or an asthmatic?
On average women are more likely to go to the doctor or the hospital for medical care than men are. Not that men are the shining example of healthy humans- they actually have shorter life spans (a plus on the health insurance side) worse physical health overall.
But insurance companies are all for profit and not for people thus they don't look at this from the human perspective, they look at it from the business perspective. This is why an insurance company will fail to approve major life saving surgery- simply because it costs more than your plan covers. Why hospitals will send someone who needs more in depth care home after about a 20 minute visit of patchwork- once you're stable they legally have nothing forcing them to help you further.
People who PAY for insurance they never use are an insurance company's wet dream.
Right, like males and young people pay more for car insurance. It's not personal, it's based on aggregate data.
Health coverage is just way too fucking important to be left up to what makes good business sense.
So when will you stand up for me? I am a man suffering from ADD, that means I pay through the roof insurance policies if I can even get one.
Or wait. I forgot, this was about women's rights, and as long as a woman suffers no man can get any support ever.
If the post is about women's health insurance cost, then it's clearly not about you, as a man.
You may want to take the "woe is me" out of this thread and into another one.
I am also a guy and I have things which make my insurance premium cost more. But, I actually have pre-existing condition.
Women just pay higher premiums, on average, than men for no other reason than being women.
Therefor, being a woman is not a pre-existing condition.
Similar to how young men pay a significantly higher car insurance premium for no reason other than them being young men?
In many places, yes. But I fail to see how it's relevant to your original comment about "woe is me and my add! when will people on a feminist blog talking about having just a higher premium for having a vagina acknowledge my pain!"
I think the main problem I have with this meme is that health care is a feminist issue. The video perpetuates the illusion that men are secretly getting good health care while women suffer needlessly. When the truth is much closer to no one is getting good health care. Some issues, such as reproductive health, are uniquely women's issues and sex (in the biological sense, not gender) should very much be taken into account. However, health insurance companies are fairly egalitarian. They are screwing over everybody, male and female alike. Setting up a men vs women ideology does a disservice. Arguing over who gets screwed over more, overshadows the fact that everyone is getting cheated and the entire system is fundamentally broken.
I totally get your point, but the way these titles are phrased bugs me. Being a woman IS a pre-existing condition (unless you just transitioned) because you were a woman before whatever we're talking about, presumably before buying health insurance.
I think what you mean to say is that women shouldn't be denied insurance coverage for this pre-existing condition, or possibly you mean for any pre-existing condition. But its just logically false on the face of it to say that they didn't know ahead of time that they were women.