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Posts Tagged ‘blue cross blue shield’

The City of San Francisco has filed a lawsuit with the State over a law on the books that allows health insurance providers to charge women a higher rate than men for the same coverage. Women may pay as much as 39% more, and they are none too happy about it. Insurance companies claim that the practice is legitimate because women in their child bearing years require more health care than men of the same ages.

The practice, which is known as ‘gender rating’ is actually widely practiced across the country. Currently 38 states allow it, and two more allow it with some restrictions. The California insurance commissioner’s office stated that until the legislature votes to change the law, they are legally bound to follow it as it currently stands.

Some women’s health advocates remind that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission forbids all employers from charging higher premiums to women when the charge is solely based on gender. The same sex discrimination rules that apply in the workplace should apply when women are searching for individual insurance coverage.

Dennis Herrera, San Francisco City Attorney stated that the unfair and inflated premiums imposed on women price them out of the health care market and they can’t afford health insurance. This is causing them to get their health care from city clinics and San Francisco General Hospital, causing an additional financial burden on the City.

With the advent of the internet, online shopping has grown from a minor interest to a multi-billion dollar segment of the market. Millions are now regularly shopping online, and the numbers are growing. With this large interest in purchasing online, it can only be assumed that more and more will be looking for health insurance quotes online too.

Searching for insurance online can provide many benefits. There are sites which will provide you with quotes from several companies so you can compare them with one another in one screen view. You will be able to select policy options, adding and deleting them at will, until you find the right feature combination that fits your needs best. The process is quick and easy and is helpful to those who lead busy lives.

There are however, some draw-backs to the process of purchasing your health insurance online, which one should definitely be aware of. First there are many sites that are just looking for your personal information to sell as leads to insurance agents, and yes, this means that once you go online to research health insurance you will begin to be contacted by insurance agents looking to sell policies. Now this is only a drawback if you have already purchased your insurance, however if you are still looking then this could actually be helpful. Also, you can not really be sure what you are getting online, so be sure to investigate a company thoroughly, especially if you have never heard of them before. Also, keep in mind that you need to make sure you are putting your information in on a secure website, look for the lock to be sure.