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Cattledog

(5,897 posts)
Thu May 4, 2017, 04:40 AM May 2017

Sexual assault will become a pre-existing condition.

https://mic.com/articles/176092/under-the-gop-s-health-plan-sexual-assault-would-be-considered-a-preexisting-condition#.fQ0KOpGnp

Under the amendment, states would have the all-clear to waive the ban preventing insurance companies from denying coverage to patients based on preexisting conditions. That means companies can also deny preventive health care services, like mammograms and gynecological exams, to these patients, which sexual assault survivors in particular rely on following an attack.

In 2010, before the ACA became law, the Huffington Post reported the story of Christina Turner, a 45-year-old woman who had been turned away by her insurance company because she'd been raped.

After being drugged and sexually assaulted, Turner's doctor prescribed her a month's worth of anti-AIDS medication, just in case. Though it turned out Turner hadn't been infected with the virus after all, when a prospective insurer saw the prescription on her health record, the company said it wouldn't cover her until — "in three or more years" — she proved she was still AIDS-free.

t's not just sexual assault that would be considered a preexisting condition under the GOP's plan.

Other gender-based conditions like postpartum depression, being a survivor of domestic violence or having gotten a C-section are also considered preexisting 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.
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