In the bad old days of eight years ago, people could be denied health coverage for a range of pre-existing conditions that mysteriously affect far far more women than men. Things like sexual assault and its after-effects, having had a C-section, pregnancy itself—these were not things insurance companies wanted to pay for, and conveniently for them, they could just reject anyone who had such undesirable entries on their medical records. Well, guess what. That’s exactly what Republicans want to bring us back to with Trumpcare.
People with pre-existing conditions will once again struggle to get insurance, though the new twist is that rather than rejecting them outright, insurers will just charge them more than they can possibly afford. And what that means is:
It's not just sexual assault that could be considered a pre-existing condition under the GOP's plan.
Other conditions like postpartum depression, being a survivor of domestic violence or having gotten a C-section could also be considered pre-existing conditions.
"Most of the people who have C-sections identify as women, so that's a shorthand for a gender discriminatory policy," Physicians for Reproductive Health advocacy fellow Dr. Diane Horvath-Cosper told Elle.
Yet, somehow, the language of the MacArthur Meadows Amendment itself denies that any of its measures are discriminatory. "Nothing in this Act shall be construed as permitting health insurance issuers to discriminate in rates for health insurance coverage by gender," the amendment reads, maintaining it doesn't actually "limit access to health coverage for individuals with pre-existing conditions."
It’s not clear who Republicans think they’re fooling with this. Their plan remains wildly unpopular, and that’s before people start actually losing health coverage. Claiming that it doesn’t do things it does, be that limit access to coverage for people with pre-existing conditions or discriminate by gender, isn’t working now and it isn’t going to work when people start encountering it in action. But the fact that people are angry about it won’t make people with pre-existing conditions, like being a woman, any more insured.