Texas Bill Would Ban Gender Discrimination in Insurance Policies

Texas lawmakers have introduced a bill ( SB 8), called the Omnibus Women's Equal Health Care Act, that would ban gender discrimination in health insurance coverage, addressing insurance policies that provide lower levels of reimbursement for medical procedures performed on women, the Dallas Morning News reports. State Sen. David Cain (D), who wrote the legislation, said that a recent Texas Woman's University study indicated that reimbursements for surgeries specific to women average 32% less than for "other equivalent procedures." The bill would direct state agencies to write rules that end "discriminatory" reimbursement policies (Stutz, Dallas Morning News, 3/2).