Rape is not a Preexisting Condition

categories: sexual assault, victims rights

Published October 25, 2009 @ 11:51AM PT

We need health care reform in this country for so many reasons, one of which is to ensure that victims of crime get the treatment they need.

The Huffington Post Investigative Fund reported horrifying tales of several women who were denied health insurance because they had received treatment after being the victims of sexual assault. I read this piece right after a great post by change.org Women's Rights blogger Jen Nedeau explaining how just being a woman can be considered a pre-existing condition and detailing instances of discrimination against women by insurers.

Both posts managed to make me angry, and both should serve as reminders of why the fight for health care reform needs our support. No one should be denied coverage, because of their gender or any other reason. Denying a person healthcare because he or she received treatment following a sexual assault is terrible and it's wrong.

The HuffPo story tells the story of a woman who was given preventative HIV medication after she believed she had been drugged and sexually assaulted. Insurers then refused to sell her a policy because they didn't want to take the chance that she had AIDS. Another woman was treated for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder after a sexual assault, and then denied coverage because of the history of treatment. These stories aren't anomalies, and it's a disgrace.

Providing services to the victims of violent crimes is critical for this country's criminal justice system to work and to improve. It's just another reason we need to fix healthcare in the U.S.

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Comments (3)

No matter now sick or healthy anyone is, they deserve heathcare. End of story.

Posted by Jay Pesan on 10/25/2009 @ 01:06PM PT
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I don't get it. I don't get why these young ladies would be treated in this way. Being sexually assaulted is not an pre-existing illness, such as cancer or something like this, this is something that have been violently done to these ladies and should not be treated as a pre-existing condition. Those who deny these women insurance and health coverage, who gave them the right to be judge, jury, and executioner. I suppose this is the way it is until something this dramatic happens to one of the lawmakers daughter's, wive's, mother's, aunt's, neice's or female cousin's. I cannot for the life in me figure out why this type of stuff is not thought of ahead of time. The same goes for many other cases such as this and those who are wrongfully prosecuted because the prosecutor is trying to make a name for themselves. Please tell me so that I understand what the mindset is of our Justice System?

Posted by SherrieLeSh... Gilliam on 11/07/2009 @ 10:10PM PT
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Our insurance companies are all about getting money these days. If they think that someone would be a risk because they are black or white, male of female, tall or short, heavy or skinny, rape victim or not, they would not offer them coverage. It is disgusting to see that this goes on. The women can't help that they were raped... they can't do anything to make that go away. They didn't do it to themselves. They are paying for someone else's crime.

Posted by Tiffany Pool on 11/13/2009 @ 06:31PM PT
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Author

Matt has worked and volunteered in various capacities in criminal justice reform for several years. When he's not blogging, he works as the Online Communications Manager at the Innocence Project. Views expressed here are Matt's, and don't represent the positions of the Innocence Project.