Equality of the sexes, equal pay for equal work, women in the military (if they want to be there) -- these are all fine goals, and we're getting closer to achieving them all the time.
But there are areas where the question of fairness needs to be examined closely.
One such case, apparently, is long term care insurance. Currently, and even after ACA is fully implemented, LTC insurers are free to charge women more than men. So, there have been complaints that it's unfair to do so.
But wait - lots of statistics prove that women on the whole live longer than men, and ultimately are more likely to actually use long-term care benefits (because in living longer, they are less likely to have a loved one remaining to provide them in-home care). Shouldn't those who can statistically be shown to use more of a coverage be expected to pay more for the likelihood of a larger payout, on average? After all, that's the principle of actuary science: premiums are set based on the odds of payout. Are hormonal male teenagers getting automobile liability insurance for the same cost as 60-year-old married women?
It has been noted that in the health insurance field, the ACA will pretty much prohibit companies from charging women higher premiums than men. That's because health insurance will operate under a different principle: the costs of insuring everyone - young or old, male or female, sick or healthy, are pooled so that everyone can pay the same. In this model, to be frank, those who consume less health insurance help pay the freight for those who pay more. Medicare works the same way. This alternate arrangement has been widely accepted because it helps mitigate the costs of catastrophic care for those who need it, and we consider that the entire society benefits from a healthier population.
The article linked above is missing a point here: Long term care is a hybrid of health and life insurance, but it seems to me more of a life insurance product. That's why ACA doesn't encompass it. I'm sure we'll eventually progress to the point where LTC can be sold to men and women at the same price. Until then, though, it's unfair to suggest that different rates for men and women are unfair.
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