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Greetings,

My name is Mikka, and I am an intern with the ELCA Justice for Women program. Currently, I am working on domestic violence, human trafficking and other issues while in the ELCA Washington Office.

These might sound like "women's issues" on the surface in that they seem to affect women more than men. However, most issues of our time like poverty, hunger, foreign aid, and environmental stewardship, are integrally related to the well-being of women as part of the greater community. Therefore, we are all, men and women, called to work on "women's issues," making them "our issues." Even the cost of health coverage affects women in particular ways.

Did you know?

Gender Rating

  • Women face higher premiums than men using a process called "gender rating" in the independent insurance market.
    For example, insurers may charge a 25-year-old woman up to 45% more than a 25-year-old man; a 40-year-old woman up to 48% more than her male counterpart, and a 55-year-old woman up to 22% more than a 55-year-old man. Click here and see page 8 to check protections against gender rating in your state.

  • In the group insurance market where employers seek coverage for employees, as the number of women in the organization increases, generally the cost of coverage increases based on gender rating.


  • Of all age groups, women age 55-64 are more likely than men of the same age to be uninsured. One reason may be many women in this age group have partners who are older than them, who are retiring, and who are leaving their employer-based insurance and entering Medicare, which leaves the female spouse without coverage and left to the individual insurance market if she is not yet eligible for Medicare.

    • Pre-Existing Conditions

    Domestic Violence
  • In eight states (Idaho, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Wyoming) and Washington D.C. domestic violence can be considered a pre-existing condition for which a victim or survivor may be denied insurance coverage in the individual market. The rationale given is that the victim or survivor, usually female, has been a victim of domestic violence for which she has sought medical treatment, and she is more likely to enter a similar relationship or environment, which will likely require additional medical care. October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Click here for ELCA resources.


    • Pregnancy and Maternal Health
  • Women in child-bearing years can be charged more for premiums or denied maternity coverage, because pregnancy can be considered a "pre-existing condition."


  • Women who have given birth previously through Cesarean-section (C-section) may be denied coverage, charged more for insurance and/or be given a period of time that maternity care will not be covered.


  • 79% of individual insurance plans looked at by NWLC did not cover maternity care. However, some states offer "rider" policies for maternal care, but this coverage is often limited, may have a waiting period for it to go into effect, and likely still leads to high out-of-pocket costs for the families.


  • Women and families with the intent to adopt a child may be denied coverage or charged a higher premium.


    • Through the elimination of pre-existing conditions and extending accessibility and affordability to all, we can stop the harmful practices mentioned here.

    Call or write your Members of Congress and Senators. Tell them that as Congress combines the health care bills, you support equal access to equal care, affordability and the elimination of pre-existing conditions as a basis to rate coverage, especially relating to women, domestic violence and pregnancy.

    Whether you are a man or a woman, we are all called to advocate for access to just health care for all. Ensuring the health of women in our society by insuring them is a moral imperative we all share to strengthen our families and communities.

    Blessings on our continued service together!

    Peace,

    Mikka McCracken
    Mikka.McCracken@elca.org

    Facts and figures from "Nowhere to Turn: How the Individual Health Market Fails Women" from the National Women's Law Center.