Thursday, August 2, 2012

When being a woman is no longer a "pre-existing condition"

Since I'm very much a pro-equality person and have had a few problems with insurance companies in the U.S, I found this infographic on Ultraviolet's page really interesting:

"Every woman needs to see this"

What do you think of the infographic? Is it too good to be true that women will finally be equal  in the U.S when it comes to health insurance? Personally I think all of this should have been obvious to the lawmakers and insurance equality should have been enforced a long time ago! But then again, as my dear ex told me, I'm one of those liberal whiners ;)

 

10 comments:

-B said...

Very interesting :)
It's great to finally see insurance companies pulling their weight, and even better that women are no longer going to have to pay extra for their required checkups. This is just one guy's opinion, but I think it's a big step toward gender equality in the U.S. ..nice work America! (cool infographic too, i love infographics)

Pilvi said...

I remember last year reading about this taking effect, and the year has gone by fast. :) It does sound too good to be true, especially when all news from the government front tend to be negative. Right now, things are better for women's preventive healthcare in the US than in Finland, actually. Even though contraception is affordable, it's not even covered the normal 42 % because it's not "treatment of an illness". What a BS cop out! And government arranges pap smears only every five years (which is not enough by any recommendation) and only starting at 30. Otherwise unless there has been a lesion before, you're happy to pay about 30 € for it yourself.

I follow the President's Google+ feed and this is what they posted there: https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-XFZ3XtSppOU/UBssxKDxg1I/AAAAAAAAx74/MZx_e0qL1Ds/s375/WomensHealthShare+8.2.png

Sugar said...

Thank you for comments!
B, I wholeheartedly agree, it's one big step, but also more need to be taken to ensure equal rights. I love infographics too! :)

Pilvi, yup it sure does sound too good to be true! And you are absolutely right about the contraceptives in Finland, how sad! As for the pap smears, I guess in the U.S you already pay for these services when acquiring an insurance, whereas in Finland the (rare) pap smears are free (well, paid with tax payers money of course, so the cost is debatable). Either way, this is an excellent step towards equality in the U.S! :)

jersey_girl said...

Not sure how all this is going to work...I asked my insurance company about contraceptives being covered with no copay and they said in PA it won't happen, at least not yet I guess. That was last month though so I'll definitely have to call again. At the moment I pay $25 a month, that is through some savings program my ob-gyn signed me up for, through insurance I would pay $70 something!

Sugar said...

I wonder too, but hopefully it will. I bet all insurance companies told that they won't cover these last month, hoping women won't ask again, but this month they'll have to cover. It seems I'm very cynical when it comes to insurance companies :) Let's hope yours will cover contraceptives this month!

Jenni said...

Liberal whiners <3 Mutta tosiaan, itse asiasta: Mun mielestä on vähän hassua ylipäätään nähdä ehkäisymaksut naisasiana. Mä olen aina pitänyt ehkäisyä asiana, joka kuuluu kummallekin asianosaiselle, ja josta mä olen kyllä laskuttanut vakituisessa parisuhteessa toista osapuolta.

jersey_girl said...

I called my insurance company again...these changes won't be in effect until our plan renews, which is next march.

Sugar said...

Jenni: jeps, sehan mina olen ;) Ja samaa mielta olen, etta kulut pitaisi kylla jakaa! Ainakin Nebraskassa ongelmana oli lahinna ehkaisyvalineiden saanti, esim. minun laakariasemani ei kirjoittanut resepteja naimattomille naisille ja kondomejakin oli vaikea menna miesten kuulemma ostamaan, kun ne piti ostaa kaukaa, ettei kukaan tuttu naa ja tietaisi etta sitahan harrastetaan esiaviollista seksia. Kunnolliset naisethan ei niita muutenkaan ostele. Minulle (eli siis naimattomalle naiselle silloin) ehdotettiin lapsen syntyman jalkeen ihan sterilisaatiota, varmaan etten tuottaisi lisaa au-lapsia heh. Taytyy myontaa, etta tuosta jalkimmaisesta jai vahan pahan maku suuhun, kun eihan minulla ole kuin tama yksi lapsi ja ian puolesta voin viela jonkin aikaa saada lapsia...

jersey_girl: so it was too good to be true, at least until March. Let's hope you'll get the new benefits then!

jersey_girl said...

just wanted to let you know I finally started my own blog :)

http://toinenkoti.blogspot.com

Sugar said...

Yay! I'll definitely be a follower :)