blog.bioethics.net

The Two X Chromosome Penalty

Women have broken through glass ceilings, they have narrowed the pay inequity gap, taken control of their reproductive health and become empowered in countless ways.

Yet, in the area of healthcare, women still face significant inequities. The one about which is most important to raise to day was reported on by the New York Times, which informed us that where women are concerned they are expected to pay significantly higher health insurance premiums than men. As the WSJ Health Blog stated it:

In a Humana plan with a $2,500 deductible, a 30-year-old woman pays 31 percent more than a man of the same age in some cities; Anthem Blue Cross (part of WellPoint) charges 30-year-old women 49% more than men of the same age for its Blue Access Economy plan in at least one city.

All this for having two X chromosomes? Not exactly. It is also the case that women utilize healthcare services more, not just during the childbearing years, but overall. Ever notice how men put off going to the doctor until their leg is actually falling off? A slight overstatement, but not much. In doing so, they utilize fewer health care resources and thus justify having lower premiums.

Plus as the image below shows, women will always be a part of the red and yellow parts of the healthcare dollar breakdown, but its the utilization of the most expensive services--hospital care, physicians, and drugs that make women a much costlier and riskier patient to insure.

So, oddly, because many women are proactive, get regular checkups, and in many cases catch deadly diseases like breast cancer or ovarian cancer early and get treated for it, they are penalized by hiking up their premiums. Good plan, insurers.

No matter what the reason, we all know that it comes down to actuarial tables and pooling of risk and a bottom line. A line under which many women fall. It may be good insurance business, but it's not good ethical practice.

Summer Johnson, PhD