NWLC Helps Pass Health Care Reform Law

We helped pass landmark health care reform legislation and end insurers’ practices of charging women higher premiums than men, excluding coverage for maternity care and treating domestic violence and Cesarean sections as pre-existing conditions. NWLC released a ground-breaking report on insurance companies’ discriminatory practices, launched a high-profile public education campaign, Being a Woman is Not a Pre-existing Condition (AWomanIsNotaPreexistingCondition.com), and conducted advocacy and outreach to contribute to passage of a law that will make an enormous difference in the lives of women and their families.  Chris Turner, a Florida woman denied insurance coverage on the grounds that her rape was a “pre-existing condition,” says: “I’m so grateful to the National Women’s Law Center for helping this issue get the attention it deserves. Thanks in part to NWLC’s hard work, we now have a health reform law that prohibits insurance companies from denying applications and excluding coverage for women with ‘pre-existing’ conditions.“