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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2009

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Coma Man's Words
May Not Be His

Experts doubt Houben's 'facilitated communication'

Nov 25, 09 2:28 AM CST
Boy With Asperger's
Lived in NYC Subway 11 Days

Runaway vanished underground

Nov 25, 09 3:00 AM CST
If Sushi's Your Turkey Cure, Steer Clear of 'Ex-Lax Fish'

Anal seepage among pitfalls of escolar, aka white tuna

Nov 24, 09 10:42 PM CST
Biggest Loser Loses Sight of Contestants' Health

Fasting, dehydration, hospitalization daily reality of reality show

Nov 25, 09 10:44 AM CST
SAYS POLL OF AMERICANS

Doubt Rising on Global Warming

But majority still believes in it, wants action

Nov 25, 09 9:50 AM CST
Vast Ocean
Once Covered
Half of Mars

Valley network points to rainy, humid ancient planet

Nov 25, 09 2:05 AM CST
Coma Doc Checking
Dozens of New Cases

Belgian searches for more victims of 'locked-in' syndrome

Nov 25, 09 5:51 AM CST
Lose Weight: Do a Puzzle

Mental puzzles can help you shed a few pounds, says brain trainer

Nov 25, 09 11:44 AM CST
New Erectile Dysfunction
Cure: Shockwaves

Researchers say it could provide a longer-term fix

Nov 24, 09 1:45 PM CST
WHITE HOUSE STATE DINNER

India, DC,
Hollywood Mix
at Obama Shindig

GOP, Dems rub elbows with movie stars, media types

Nov 24, 09 9:18 AM CST
Gas Fumes
May Pump Up
Road Rage

Study finds link to increased aggression in rats

Nov 25, 09 5:24 AM CST
NEW BOOK

Cancer May Have Killed FDR

Possible deception in 1944 election raises lots of what-if questions

Nov 24, 09 2:11 PM CST
Fallout From Hacked Climate Change Emails Intensifies

Scientists worry backstabbing could derail emissions agreement

Nov 24, 09 9:22 AM CST

|NEXT STORY »

Wife-Beating Branded a 'Pre-Existing Condition'

Eight states allow insurance firms to deny coverage to abused spouses

By Rob Quinn| Posted Sep 15, 09 8:30 AM CDT|

(Newser) – It is legal in eight states and in DC for insurers to reject victims of domestic violence because being beaten up by your spouse qualifies as "a pre-existing health condition" the Huffington Post reports. If you're in a marriage where it's happened once, the logic goes, you're more likely than the average person to get beaten up again. Democrats campaigning for health care reform note that they tried to outlaw the practice three years ago, but were defeated by Republicans on the Senate Health Committee.

Wyoming Sen. Mike Enzi—a member of the "Gang of Six" lawmakers trying to forge a bipartisan health bill—was among those who voted it down, arguing that it could increase the price of insurance. A survey of insurance companies in 1994 found eight of 16 wouldn't insure victims of domestic violence.

[Images (1)]

[Quotes (1)]

A 1994 survey of 16 insurance firms by then-Rep. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) found that eight had denied coverage to victims of domestic violence. (Shutter Stock)

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

Senator Murray continues to believe that victims of domestic violence should not be punished for the crimes of their abusers.
- A spokesperson for Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.)

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11.24.09

Murdoch and Microsoft: The Mice Are Trying to Roar

11.23.09

Books Are Bad for You

48 comments

VIEWING:

BlahBlahBlah
Sep 15, 09 8:44 AM CDT

These people make me want to puke! Sometimes a little government intervention is just what we need. Reply

+23

IN RESPONSE:

nick
Sep 15, 09 10:28 AM CDT

I hope that you include the Republicans in Congress who approve of such practices by the insurance companies- in the people who make you want to puke.

+12

IN RESPONSE:

Snarfeh
Sep 15, 09 12:57 PM CDT

I'll explain the difference between liberals and conservatives since the repugs won't bother checking out the link : liberals don't want their tax dollars being used to kill people, i.e. paying for wars, while conservatives don't want their tax dollars being used to save people. LINK: http://www.globalone.tv/profiles/blogs/liberals-vs-conservatives

IN RESPONSE:

Snarfeh
Sep 15, 09 12:58 PM CDT

How about that, eh? There are atheists who are better Christians than are conservatives.

| 0 minutes ago

Unaffiliated
Sep 15, 09 8:45 AM CDT

OK, so it's not illegal to deny coverage in these cases. The next question is, does the practice actually occur? Are the insurance companies really that callous? My suspicion is, yes, it does, and yes, they are. I just don't understand how people can work for health insurance companies in good conscience. Reply

+15

IN RESPONSE:

BlueAyez
Sep 15, 09 4:29 PM CDT

Yes it does include prescriptions. This is not a new practice folks. A relative was on Coumadin (a heart drug) when it first came out. They took it for 3 years before the insurance company cut it from their formulary. This medication cost $500 a month in the early 80's. They couldn't afford it. They died 6 months after being dropped by the insurance company.

IN RESPONSE:

I_hate_to_say
Sep 16, 09 3:20 AM CDT

Wendell Potter couldn't. http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/07102009/watch2.html

| 0 minutes ago

Jassy
Sep 15, 09 8:52 AM CDT

I volunteered at an abuse center for battered women and children. They had a 3 strike rule. If the women refused to take action i.e. get a divorce, file criminal charges etc. against her abuser 3 times, they refused her help the next time. They figured it was best to conserve resources for those who were serious about dealing with the problem and not just looking for a place to sleep for a few nights. Reply

IN RESPONSE:

BleeBloo
Sep 15, 09 9:04 AM CDT

Honestly, so many of these women need years of therapy before they can even begin to leave their abusers. It's incredibly difficult to leave when everything they have done to you makes your natural reaction to just stay.

IN RESPONSE:

BlueAyez
Sep 15, 09 4:32 PM CDT

It takes an average of 7 times before a battered spouse leaves for good. The only thing that did was seal the women and childrens' fates. If she has no one to turn to she has no way of breaking herself out of the problem. Most people do not know how tight a psychological hold an abuser has on their SO.

| 0 minutes ago

odowd80
Sep 15, 09 9:01 AM CDT

It boggles my mind the people vote for Republicans when I hear news stories like this. Why would you block a bill that would stop this practice? Reply

+12

IN RESPONSE:

BleeBloo
Sep 15, 09 9:05 AM CDT

Because health insurers would rather give politicians donations than to actually insure battered women. Those are the senators who are blocking it.

IN RESPONSE:

freethemall
Sep 15, 09 11:03 AM CDT

Why would you block a bill that would stop this practice? I think we all know, or should know, the answer to that question. The reason why, is the same reason why the public option in health care reform is about to go down to defeat. Can anybody guess? Yes! That's correct! Bribery in the form of campaign contributions from the health insurance industry.

| 0 minutes ago

JonmarkP
Sep 15, 09 9:06 AM CDT

If you're a big investor in insurance companies and your dividends depend on decisions like this, what's the problem? The system is fine just the way it is-for the abusers, for the insurance company, for the wealthy investors and for the Teabaggers. Whoa, wait a minute-why for the Teabaggers? Reply

IN RESPONSE:

odowd80
Sep 15, 09 9:17 AM CDT

Because wife-beating is widely accepted in trailer park communities.

IN RESPONSE:

godawgs
Sep 15, 09 9:25 AM CDT

@odo first of spousal abuse in nothing to make jokes about, and secondly it knows no racial or economic lines. It is can just as easily happen in a trailer park as it could in the ghetto or fifth ave.

IN RESPONSE:

Toon
Sep 15, 09 11:04 AM CDT

Its also a plus for patriarchal conservative 'Christians'. Beat your wife and inability to get health insurance is another reason why she can't leave you.

| 0 minutes ago

Doctor_Zaius
Sep 15, 09 9:22 AM CDT

Using this logic you could argue that all illness and death are "pre-existing conditions" and thus deny any and all coverage. This pre-existing condition nonsense needs to go away. Reply

+14

IN RESPONSE:

godawgs
Sep 15, 09 9:27 AM CDT

I agree with you on that point. While we are waiting they should just pass a law stating that and the fact that you can't get dropped for getting sick. What do you think of Snowe coming out saying she wouldn't vote for the public option?

IN RESPONSE:

Doctor_Zaius
Sep 15, 09 10:39 AM CDT

Not surprised. She's probably getting a lot of heat right about now.

IN RESPONSE:

godawgs
Sep 15, 09 11:24 AM CDT

@drz yeah but she took the same heat for the stimulus and she went against the part to pass that. i thought that read both of the Maine senators stated they wouldn't vote for it.

IN RESPONSE:

BlueAyez
Sep 15, 09 4:33 PM CDT

Life is a pre-existing condition.

IN RESPONSE:

Doctor_Zaius
Sep 15, 09 8:00 PM CDT

I don't know. Both Collins and Snowe are in pretty strong positions with little to fear from the Republican structure and much to gain from the Dems. They also aren't ideologically attuned to the current small, crazy tent the Republicans have pitched for themselves. I will wait and see before making any judgments but I wouldn't be surprised if one or both of them broke ranks especially given how the GOP screwed up it's handling of Specter.

IN RESPONSE:

Snarfeh
Sep 15, 09 8:42 PM CDT

Hell, I already pointed out in one thread that you can break your arm at your house and have it called a pre-existing condition by the time you get to the hospital...it is beyond stupid as well as beyond greedy, at this point, and it is one of the major reasons we need INSURANCE reform and a public option.

IN RESPONSE:

yummines
Sep 15, 09 11:20 PM CDT

this pre-existing bullshit should be one of the main things targeted to be removed. most people need insurance foir pre-existing conditions. now wife-beating is considered a "pre-existing" condition? its like saying that when a child has been molested by their father they cannot get insurance coverage for therapy because it was "pre-existing"

| 0 minutes ago

godawgs
Sep 15, 09 9:24 AM CDT

Sen Hatch was the chairman of this committee when this happened. I will be sending him an email asking for an explanation. that is bullshit, you should never hit your spouse, and for the company to use that as an excuse to deny coverage if messed up. Reply

+15

IN RESPONSE:

odowd80
Sep 15, 09 9:49 AM CDT

Thumbs up

| 0 minutes ago

schmidtkoff
Sep 15, 09 10:23 AM CDT

and good old south carolina is one of the states. why am i not surprised. try living here. Reply

IN RESPONSE:

Jes
Sep 15, 09 12:13 PM CDT

Actually, after visiting Charleston this August I thought I would like to. As we hear more and more of the politics I'm not so sure. Maybe just a place to visit...

| 0 minutes ago

schmidtkoff
Sep 15, 09 10:29 AM CDT

off topic, and as an aside i submit- a recent article in the post and courier out of charleston stated that "nearly 20 percent of the 843 prospective police officers, jailers, and dispatchers who entered the state's criminal justice academy in the past year could not read at a 10th grade level. nearly 4 percent were below a sixth-grade level." Reply

IN RESPONSE:

godawgs
Sep 15, 09 10:35 AM CDT

So who do you blame for that, the schools for just pushing them through, the parents for not taking an interest in the child's education, the state for not enforcing some sort of standard? i will be happy when the new educational standards go into affect.

| 0 minutes ago

Reader9713228
Sep 15, 09 10:35 AM CDT

This is another twist of decency to keep abused women from coming forward. Spousal abuse will continue to be legal. Reply

IN RESPONSE:

Alan_Harrington
Sep 15, 09 12:12 PM CDT

i would think that it might give even more incentive to the women to get out of their abusive relationships.

-1

IN RESPONSE:

BlueAyez
Sep 15, 09 4:35 PM CDT

No it doesn't give them incentive. Like Reader said it keeps them in the abusive situation.

| 0 minutes ago

luvboxer
Sep 15, 09 10:57 AM CDT

This is horrible. Please tell me again why we don't need health reform. Its time for the dems to get this done with the stupid republican party! Reply

IN RESPONSE:

prowlerzee
Sep 15, 09 5:15 PM CDT

Well said, BlueAyez! If men had abortions, they would be sacred. Meanwhile, ZERObama has thrown women under the bus on these issues and is being called out on it by NOW, which is under NEW LEADERSHIP.

| 0 minutes ago

raeriva
Sep 15, 09 11:28 AM CDT

This sort of thing will only cause the women to make up different causes for their ailments.. which will keep them from getting the help that they really need in the end. Reply

| 0 minutes ago

CarrieHarris
Sep 15, 09 12:28 PM CDT

Of the 1 in 2 women raped, 1 will be raped again so will they next deny rape victims, ER Bills or counseling, because they are more likely than the average person to be raped again. Or would go so far as to deny all women because they are more likely to be raped than men. Reply

IN RESPONSE:

BlueAyez
Sep 15, 09 4:37 PM CDT

I think the answer lies here: insurance companies pay for Viagra but the patient pays for birth control.

IN RESPONSE:

prowlerzee
Sep 15, 09 5:17 PM CDT

My above comment was for BlueAyez dead-on critique of the pigs paying for Viagara but throwing women under the bus.

-1

| 0 minutes ago

PhillytoWinnetka
Sep 15, 09 1:23 PM CDT

Helloo..the survey was done in 1994!!!! Let's see that's 15 YEARS AGO. How come they don't have a more recent survey?? Reply

-1

IN RESPONSE:

godawgs
Sep 15, 09 1:36 PM CDT

who cares when the survey was done. the resolution was voted on in 2005. that was three years ago.

IN RESPONSE:

prowlerzee
Sep 15, 09 5:20 PM CDT

Because Bush is out of office and it's time for the pig Zerobama to support freedom of choice act, rescind the Bush "conscience" rules and stop throwing women under the bus after LYING about his support for women's rights. NOW is calling his sorry ass out on this. We need to kick his butt until he's SHAMED into doing the right thing, because shame is the only thing that works on sociopathic narcissists.

-1

IN RESPONSE:

Unaffiliated
Sep 17, 09 11:28 AM CDT

Sexist AND racist, Buh. I hope you're not married. I would fear for your wife's well being.

| 0 minutes ago

cornelison
Sep 15, 09 8:30 PM CDT

Health insurance bosses do not care about sick Americans. They don't care about anybody but themselves. Oh, one more thing. They care about how much money they are paying to defeat health care reform. Reply

| 0 minutes ago

riffran
Sep 16, 09 5:43 AM CDT

I am a conservative..and after reading that article, all I can say is "You've gotta be sh**ing me"...That's jacked up folks....and whomever supported that kinda crap SHOULD BE VOTED OUT! Reply

| 0 minutes ago

Trpster
Oct 30, 09 7:50 AM CDT

Would not this be covered by State Victims of Domestic Violence Compensation Programs? It would be in CA. (VICTIM WOULD NEED TO FILE REPORT) Still..... Returning to an should be classified as a abuser is a disease, as it is a form of co-dependency, IMHO Reply

| 0 minutes ago

901nanny
Oct 30, 09 6:44 PM CDT

I think the repugs need a little shock treatment ie,have to live like most of us do with the threat of no job, lousy insurance,and a world sliding down the path to somewhere? Reply

| 0 minutes ago

View all 48 comments »

health care • health insurance • domestic violence • health care reform • domestic abuse • Mike Enzi • health insurance industry • pre-existing condition

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Wife-Beating Branded a 'Pre-Existing Condition'

Eight states allow insurance firms to deny coverage to abused spouses

[Images (1)]

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We Must
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*But please don't
touch mine, no
matter how wasteful

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Domestic Violence Linked to Football Upsets

Local-team upsets match to an 8% upswing in abuse

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Separate entrance, faster service for those who pay out of pocket

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health care • health insurance • domestic violence • health care reform • domestic abuse • Mike Enzi • health insurance industry • pre-existing condition

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Wife-Beating Branded a 'Pre-Existing Condition'

Eight states allow insurance firms to deny coverage to abused spouses

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We Must Reduce Health Care Costs*

*But please don't touch mine, no matter how wasteful

MORE ABOUT: health care • health care costs • breast cancer • prostate cancer • rationing • mammogram • health care reform • U.S. Preventive Services Task Force • Eugene Robinson

Domestic Violence Linked to Football Upsets

Local-team upsets match to an 8% upswing in abuse

MORE ABOUT: sports • NFL • Green Bay Packers • football • Chicago Bears • domestic violence • domestic abuse • upset • loss • National Football League • losing season

At One Clinic, Two Standards of Care

Separate entrance, faster service for those who pay out of pocket

MORE ABOUT: health care • health insurance • doctor • mammogram • radiology • clinic • boutique • concierge medicine

health care • health insurance • domestic violence • health care reform • domestic abuse • Mike Enzi • health insurance industry • pre-existing condition

MOST POPULAR STORIES

[ By Views ]

[ By Comments ]

from our news partners

Associated Press

About

Help

Tools

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What is Newser?

We Must
Reduce Health Care Costs*

*But please don't
touch mine, no
matter how wasteful

MORE ABOUT:
health care • health care costs • breast cancer • prostate cancer • rationing • mammogram • health care reform • U.S. Preventive Services Task Force • Eugene Robinson

MORE ABOUT:
sports • NFL • Green Bay Packers • football • Chicago Bears • domestic violence • domestic abuse • upset • loss • National Football League • losing season

At One Clinic,
Two Standards
of Care

MORE ABOUT:
health care • health insurance • doctor • mammogram • radiology • clinic • boutique • concierge medicine