Wilson Moves To Protect Battered Women

Senator Jim Wilson said today he will introduce legislation in the 2010 legislative session to prohibit health insurance companies from classifying domestic violence as a pre-existing condition.

Wilson, D-Tahlequah, began working on the measure after recent reports stating Oklahoma was one of only eight states that allowed insurance companies to deny claims based on the pre-existing condition of domestic violence.

“These women have already been victimized by their abuser—but here in Oklahoma they can be victimized again by their own insurance company,” Wilson said. “Maybe under current law it is legal for companies to do this, but that doesn’t mean it’s right. My legislation would close this loophole.”

Under Wilson’s legislation, no health benefit plan would be able to deny coverage or exclude any person from any health benefit plan on the basis of an individual’s status as a victim of domestic abuse.

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