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For Immediate Release: November 4, 2009
Contact: Karen Schneider or Adrienne Ammerman, 202-588-5180
BOEHNER SUBSTITUTE STILL TREATS WOMEN LIKE A PRE-EXISTING CONDITION
Cold Comfort for Women and Families in Proposed Health Reform Alternative
(Washington, DC) House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Oh) released last night his substitute amendment to the House health care reform legislation. The statement of Judy Waxman, Vice President for Health and Reproductive Rights at the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), follows:
“Representative Boehner’s health care substitute does not address many of the problems that exist today in our broken health care system. Worse still, it takes us backwards in the effort to provide accessible, affordable and comprehensive health care. This is a proposal that insurance company executives should love.
“Under this proposal, being a woman is still a pre-existing condition. This substitute does not give any protections against the discriminatory practices of basing insurance premiums on gender. Most women will continue to be charged more than men for the exact same coverage in the individual market and many companies will be charged more for their women employees. Additionally, women may still be denied coverage based on their status as a domestic violence or sexual assault survivor or having had a C-section. This proposed plan leaves them no better off than they are today.
“The plan takes our health care system in the wrong direction. For example, the legislation’s provision to allow individuals to shop for health insurance across state lines may seem innocuous, but don’t be fooled. State insurance regulations provide critical consumer protections and require that important health services are covered – helping ensure that women receive coverage that meets their health care needs. Expanding access to health savings accounts could result in women buying insurance that has lower premiums, but may leave them with insufficient coverage – at great risk to their health and financial security. And, the plan uses this historic debate to advance one of the long-standing goals of the anti-choice movement – to prevent any insurance plan that receives even one dollar of federal funding, now or in the future, from including coverage of abortion care for women.
“Women’s well-being—and that of their families—depends on health reform that meets their needs. In short, Boehner’s proposed substitute is the wrong prescription for what ails our system. It fails to make the grade when it comes to improving access to comprehensive, quality, affordable health care for women and their families.”
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