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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.

Having medical insurance is no guarantee you won’t be overbilled. Many are finding inaccuracies in the bills they receive from hospitals and caregivers. The problem is less uncommon than one would think. It could be sloppiness or it could mean the right hand isn’t talking to the left hand. Hospital billing procedures often do leave a lot to be desired, since there are so many involved in the patient’s care. But errors do occur, and it is a good idea to do a line by line review of your hospital bill.

One young nurse recently had an eye opening experience as she was reviewing the bills from her husband’s recent hospital stay. It appears he had been scheduled to be released on a particular day, and that wasn’t communicated somehow, causing him to have to stay an extra day. There were excessive charges for administering medication 7 times per day when it was only prescribed 4 times per day. And then there was the charge for $875 for one item that she knew from her hospital work should have only been around $80. Clerical error. By the time she was finished, she had discovered nearly $7000 of incorrect charges.

So when you receive a hospital bill, it is a good idea to sit down and review it very carefully. If you have questions, sit down with your doctor instead of the hospital billing department. The billing department is clerical by nature, and they don’t always have an accurate history of the care that was actually provided. Make sure you ask questions.