(Excerpt) California could become the first state in the nation to ban the sale of health plans that exclude maternity benefits under legislation being considered by the state Senate.

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Lawmakers took up the issue after two insurers, Blue Cross of California and Health Net, rolled out policies last year that had exceptionally low premiums in part because they did not pay for maternity, the No. 1 cause of hospitalization for women.
Blue Cross and Health Net said they developed the plans, available only to individuals who buy coverage on their own, as a way to respond to consumers' demand for the cheapest possible insurance premiums.

Reproductive health advocates immediately condemned the policies as discrimination, because if the policy does not cover maternity, then women - not men - must spend thousands of dollars out-of-pocket to pay for prenatal care and delivery costs.

A bill (SB 1555) by Sen. Jackie Speier, D-Hillsborough, is expected to be put to a floor vote soon in the state Senate. It would require all insurers that do business in the state to include maternity coverage in every policy.

"The federal government has already determined that discrimination on the basis of pregnancy status is illegal," Speier said. "California has an interest in stopping the sale of these insurance policies that are an insidious form of gender discrimination."

Under state law, all policies sold to employers who purchase medical coverage on behalf of workers must include maternity benefits.

Maternity coverage is not required in the individual insurance market, often the option of last resort for workers not otherwise covered. Their choice often comes down to the cost of monthly premiums.

Blue Cross, the largest insurer in California, designed RightPlan 40, its bare-bones individual health plan that excludes maternity, with the uninsured in mind, said company spokesman Michael Chee.

"This product was developed particularly for the young invincible audience, people in the 19-to-34 age range who are just coming into the work force and don't have a lot of money to pay for more comprehensive coverage," Chee said.

About 24,000 people have bought RightPlan, Chee said. Nearly one-third were previously uninsured. And just more than half of the policies were purchased by women. The cheapest Blue Cross option for a 25-year-old woman in Sacramento County costs $34 a month.

Chee said potential clients are told up front that the policies do not cover maternity...

...Health Net, which offers four individual policies without maternity coverage, allows women in some of the plans to switch to a policy with maternity benefits if they become pregnant.

For a 25-year-old woman in Sacramento County, the cheapest individual policy sold by Health Net costs $33 a month, without maternity. A plan with maternity costs $53 a month...

...If the bill became law, people who have individual coverage without maternity benefits would be forced to pay an average of 12 percent more for insurance, Kieffer said.

At the same time, Health Net allows women who buy all but its cheapest nonmaternity plan to switch to a plan with that coverage if they become pregnant. "We've done everything we can to keep a broad range of affordable insurance options available" Kieffer said...

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Source: Sacramento Bee