Center for American Progress

A Supreme Win for Women: The Crucial Benefits of Obamacare
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A Supreme Win for Women: The Crucial Benefits of Obamacare

Thanks to Obamacare, women can’t be charged 150 percent more than men for insurance, can’t be penalized for having had a C-section—and can count birth control as preventive care, writes Jessica Arons in the Daily Beast.

Women have much to celebrate in today’s historic Supreme Court ruling upholding the Affordable Care Act—starting with the fact that it means an end to gender discrimination in the health insurance market. In other words, women will no longer pay up to 150 percent more than men for the exact same health benefits.

Under a current practice known as “gender rating,” insurers can charge women higher premiums than men—in fact, women now pay $1 billion more than men each year for identical health plans in the individual market. As of 2014, gender rating becomes illegal in all new individual and small group plans.

The above excerpt was originally published in The Daily Beast. Click here to view the full article.

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Authors

Jessica Arons

Director, Women\'s Health & Rights Program