BETWEEN THE LINES Q&A with Eleanor Smeal

Between the Lines Q&A

A weekly column featuring progressive viewpoints
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under-reported in mainstream media
for release Oct. 22, 2009

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Health Care Reform Bills Could Reverse
Insurance Discrimination Against Women

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Interview with Eleanor Smeal,
president of the Feminist Majority and
past president of NOW, conducted by Scott Harris

womenhealth

The drive for health care reform cleared another hurdle on Oct. 13th, when the Senate Finance Committee voted 14 to 9 to pass a reform proposal shaped by committee Chairman Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont. Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine was the only Republican to vote for the bill. Of the five committees in the House and Senate that have passed health care reform legislation, the Baucus bill is the only measure that does not include a government health insurance option to compete with private, for-profit insurance companies. Many health care reform activists have criticized the Baucus bill as a gift to the insurance industry, with little in it to control the rise in premiums.

Most bills being considered prevent insurance companies from denying coverage due to pre-existing medical conditions, and require nearly all Americans to purchase health insurance, while offering federal subsidies to lower income citizens and small businesses assistance to pay for coverage. But despite recent opinion polls finding that a strong majority of Americans support a public option, whether or not to include the provision remains the primary focus of debate.

The next step in the process will see the House and Senate each merge the various committee reform proposals into one bill, followed by a vote. Then both chambers must hammer out the differences between the two bills, clearing the way for a full Congressional vote. Between the Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Eleanor Smeal, President of the Feminist Majority and past president of the National Organization for Women. She assesses the status of the heath care reform debate and the discriminatory practices women face in obtaining affordable health insurance coverage under the current system.

ELEANOR SMEAL:Well, I'm hopeful still, that we do get a public option and I think we have to fight for that. The, as you know, speaker has pretty much guaranteed that it coming out of the House with a public option. And it's already come out of the Kennedy committee -- which is the Kennedy-Dodd committee, the Health, Education Labor and Pension (committee) of the Senate. So a public option now -- this is where we are right this minute -- the Senate has to merge the Dodd committee bill with the Baucus bill. And hopefully, they put the public option in. If leadership decides they want to do that, they can. And then it would take, according to Sen. Charles Schumer, it would take 60 votes to take it out. And they don't have the 60 votes to take it out. And they don't have the 60 votes to take it out. And they don't have the 60 votes to take it out. So we could be getting it just from that maneuver alone. Or, the next stage would be when it merges with the House bill, that it would be in it. So we have two chances, and I'm hoping that we get the first one.

BETWEEN THE LINES:Eleanor Smeal, there's been some criticism from the left, about the possibility of establishing a public option that's extremely weak and doesn't really help a lot of people? How important is it even for a weak public option to be voted into law here, and President Obama to sign it?

ELEANOR SMEAL: I do think you got to take the whole bill at it. It has real milestones. But before I go into that, this public option does establish a precedent, saying that (unintelligible), where there would be private plans, but there also would be public plans. And, either the employer, usually a small business employer or nonprofit or an individual can choose which of the plans they want. And at least if you have a public option in there, it will contain costs of the private insurance plans, which are essentially unsustainable. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) has put it very succinctly, saying that 10 years ago, a private insurance plan for four people was $6,000. Today, that same policy is in the neighborhood of $12,000 to $13,000. And 10 years from now, it will be $24,000.

You just can't keep escalating like this. They're escalating every year, 7 percent, 10 percent, whatever. The hope is, the public option will force them to have to become competitive to contain costs.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Eleanor Smeal, when it comes to women and health insurance in our current private market, what are the special hardships that women face in being able to afford good health care coverage?

ELEANOR SMEAL: A lot. Number one is, we're charged more for the same coveage, according to government figures right now, around 48 percent more for similar products. So we're charged more, I've actually seen figures higher than that. But significantly more for the same product, the excuse for eons is because of maternity coverage. But studies have been done to show that 79 percent of these private plans do not include maternity coverage. So that's a lark, too. I mean, essentially, we're charged more and then maternity is frequently not covered. That's just ludicrous. And so, one of the things the new whole insurance package that they're trying to get through is that it would prohibit sex discrimination in pricing. That's a big deal. We've been trying to get rid of that for several decades. So that's really important.

Secondly, it would mandate that they have to include maternity. It cannot be excluded -- maternity coverage. Thirdly, other pre-existing conditions that purely affect women, remember, it eliminates all pre-existing conditions. You can no longer use that to as an excuse to deny coverage. And women who are domestic violence victims are denied coverage in nine states right now, and also, it goes state by state. Remember, insurance is essentially state regulated. This is going to essentially establish standards in health insurance. And so, for example, right now in some states, they can exclude based on caesarean section delivery, saying now that's a pre-existing condition, 'cuz you had one.

Anyway, all these things would be eliminated. There's a lot of good things in this. I do believe we must have a public option. But I also think we should note all the things that this is covering and it is an advantage for people, really, of all ages. We're in the final days here, and I think we got a chance to make history. I believe, actually, it's going to pass. I don't if I'm just being too optimistic, but I think the public wants it, and I think the majority of both houses want it. Now the question is, can they hold us up on some parliamentary procedure, some filibuster? It's a time to make history. I was just a kid then, but I can remember how happy my mother was when Medicare passed.

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Scott Harris is a producer of Between The Lines, which can be heard on more than 45 radio stations and in RealAudio and MP3 on our website at www.btlonline.org. This interview excerpt was featured on the award-winning, syndicated weekly radio newsmagazine, Between The Lines for the week ending Oct. 30, 2009. This Between The Lines Q&A was compiled by Anna Manzo.

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