The writer was talking about the same coverage. She's not saying "except for maternity benefits or prostate exams", she's saying the same coverage.
A woman who buys her own health insurance in Ohio can count on paying more than a man for the same coverage, because of a discriminatory practice called gender rating. For many women, this can put affordable, comprehensive coverage out of reach.
President Obama's health-care law will ban such practices once it is fully implemented, but until then they remain a widespread problem.
In Ohio, 100 percent of the best-selling individual health insurance plans practice gender rating, and 100 percent exclude maternity coverage.
One plan charges a 40-year-old woman $371 more in annual premiums than a 40-year-old man for the same coverage. Another charges $669 more.
Nationwide, the effect of these discrepancies can be staggering. A new analysis by the National Women's Law Center finds that gender rating costs women approximately $1 billion a year.