Individual Health Insurance for Genders

Health insurance companies have always used gender as a factor when determining rates for individual health insurance. This was justified by the statistical data gathered over years which showed women spent more on healthcare than men. California has recently passed a new state law which will forbid health insurance companies in the state from using gender as a factor for pricing according to the article "State Law Levels Premiums" on DailyBulletin.com.

This law may have a huge impact on the way health insurers are conducting business. Many experts believe that gender rating negatively affects women and causes them to pay more for health insurance over a lifetime. The new national health care reform bill passed in 2010 will also prohibit gender pricing, but this will not take effect until 2014, so California is ahead of the game and it's possible other states follow suit and implement this practice before it's law in 2014.

The new California law will affect over 1 million women in the state purchasing individual health insurance policies according to Beth McGovern who is the legislative director for the California Commission on the Status of Women. It is going to apply to new and existing policies. Although this is a fairer way of pricing, health insurance companies will have to reevaluate how to make up for the differences in health care costs between men and women.