How Women Will Benefit from Health Care Reform

Writing for Forbes magazine, Bonnie Rochman has published a fascinating piece on how health care reform will impact women in this country. Here is Rochman's list of special health care issues for women:

"Affordability. Three in five women have problems paying their medical bills. Women are also more likely than men to neglect care or treatment because of cost.

Maternity Coverage. Most individual insurance policies may exclude maternity care.

Gender Ratings. Most states permit insurance companies to set premiums based on gender and generally charge women more than men for individual policies.

Imbalance. Women are more likely than men to face limits or restrictions in prescription drugs, mental health or other care.

Zero Coverage. Nearly one in five women (17 million) is uninsured--although almost two-thirds are in families with at least one adult working full time."

Pregnancy is a major issue for women's health coverage. If a woman is pregnant at the time she purchases coverage, it is generally treated as a "pre-existing condition" and not covered. The article quotes Diana Zuckerman, president of the National Research Center for Women and Families:

"Young men and women tend to be healthy, but young women tend to get pregnant, and that is a huge expense. There is nothing comparable for a man, so insurance is a much bigger issue for young healthy women than young healthy men."

Read the complete article here.