New Mexico Well Woman - Gender Rating in Insurance

Gender Rating in Insurance Plans

As a result of our October 22, 208 Policy Briefing, and in conjunction with the Human Services Department and Governor Richardson's Health Reform package, an effort is underway to make gender rating illegal.

All health coverage proposals should eliminate the discrimination that women face by banning gender rating, ensuring all health plans include maternity coverage as part of the basic benefits package, and eliminating the practices of rejecting applicants due to health history, excluding pre-existing conditions, and rating based on age and health history.

Make gender rating illegal (gender based rating in insurance plans is legal in NM up to 20%). New Mexico: Gender: N.M. Stat. § 59A-18-13.1(A) (2008) (allowing gender rating); N.M. Stat. § 59A-18-13.1(B) (2008) (providing that “the difference in rates in any one age group that may be charged on the basis of a person’s gender shall not exceed another person’s rates in the age group by more than twenty percent of the lower rate”). Age: N.M. Stat. § 59A-18-13.1(A) (2008) (allowing insurers to use age as a rating factor in the individual market). Health status: N.M. Stat. § 59A-18-13.1(C) (2008) (providing that insurers are not precluded from using health status as a rating factor).

Contact: RubyAnn Esquibel rubyann.esquibel@state.nm.us