First we learned about the twisted reasoning that makes getting the crap beat out of you a pre-existing condition in seven states - and because the insurance industry just can't stop coming up with clever ways to screw over women, we have this:
“The point of insurance is to insure against catastrophic care costs. That’s what you’re trying to aggregate and pool for such things as heart attacks and cancer,” said an Anthem Blue Cross spokesman. “Having a child is a matter of choice. Dealing with an adult onset illness, such as diabetes, heart disease breast or prostate cancer, is not a matter of choice.”
... and this:
Many insurers consider a Caesarean-section pregnancy a pre-existing condition and refuse to cover women who have had the procedure.
... and this:
The Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 requires employers with more than 15 workers to include maternity benefits in their insurance packages. But only 14 states require maternity coverage in policies sold on the individual market, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
And a report last fall by the National Women's Law Center found only 12 percent of 3,500 individual insurance policies included comprehensive maternity coverage. Another 20 percent offered it with a rider that cost as much as $1,100 a month. Others required a two-year waiting period.
Naturally the insurance industry, as they've poured money into Max Baucus' coffers, have been fighting against health care reform with everything they've got -- because, hey, who needs a public option when we have the private insurers to cover all of our health needs?