Here's a nice Mother's Day gift: Health insurance companies are close to ending the practice of charging women higher premiums for the same coverage.
Traditionally, women pay higher premiums for equivalent health coverage, sometimes up to 50 percent more than men. The insurance industry has argued that the price difference was required because women had more health costs, especially during child-bearing years.
Senator John Kerry has introduced a bill – The Women's Health Insurance Fairness Act – that would prevent insurance companies from charging higher premiums to women and would require them to provide comprehensive maternity coverage:
"The disparity between women and men in the individual insurance market
is just plain wrong and it has to change," said Senator Kerry.
With health care expenditures on the rise and money tight for most families, these new premium rules could be a well-timed price cut. And since it is "Nice Friday," we'll choose to ignore the possibility that the insurance industry will just raise premiums for men in order to satisfy this call for equality.
Happy Mother's Day!
Emily Peters – Credit.com's personal finance expert and former TransUnion credit bureau insider, Emily writes about credit reports, credit cards, loans and personal finance as the CreditBloggers.com editor.