ICAN Needs Cases of Insurance Discrimination

Last Thursday, Peggy Robertson of Colorado testified before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee about being discriminated against by her insurance company. Her story can be found at the ICAN website: http://ican-online.org/users/ican-blog/blog/ican-mother-testifies-capitol-hill.

According to the ICAN press release, Mrs. Robertson was not only rejected for coverage because she had previously had a cesarean section, she was told in a letter that the only way they would give her coverage was if she consented to sterilization.

With the percentage of pregnant women who give birth via cesarean section rising to almost 33%, using a cesarean as a "pre-existing" condition is setting up a third of American women to be uninsured in the future. More and more hospitals are not offering VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) as a choice to women. Page Hospital in AZ was the most recent one in the news that threatened a VBAC mother with a court ordered cesarean if she did not consent, even though she had had a successful VBAC for her last birth. This mother has decided to travel hundreds of miles in order to get her VBAC. This shouldn't happen, either.

If you have stories of insurance discrimination based on previous cesarean, send them to ICAN. The Senate committee wants to investigate this issue.