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Oklahoma
State Senate
Communications Division
State Capitol
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
For Immediate Release: October 5, 2009
Sen. Jim Wilson
Sen. Wilson to File Legislation to Protect
Domestic Violence Victims from Insurance Denials
Sen. Jim Wilson said he will introduce legislation for the upcoming
session to prohibit health insurance companies from classifying
domestic violence as a pre-existing condition. Wilson, a Democrat
from 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.
“Right now in Oklahoma, a woman with breast cancer can be
denied coverage because at some point in her life she had been the
victim of domestic violence,” Wilson said. “She’s
being punished, denied access to healthcare, because she was the
victim of a crime. That is unconscionable.”
If approved, any insurance plan issued or renewed on or after November
1, 2010, would be prohibited from considering domestic abuse as
a preexisting condition.
“This loophole doesn’t exist in 42 other states,”
Wilson said. “It is my hope that members in both chambers
will act quickly to pass this legislation on behalf of the women
and families of Oklahoma.”
For more information contact:
Senator Wilson: 405-521-5574
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