SEIU's blog brought this issue to the forefront. According to the good folks at SEIU:

"But, in DC and nine other states, including Arkansas, Idaho, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Wyoming, insurance companies have gone too far, claiming that "domestic violence victim" is also a pre-existing condition."

SEIU's blog, in turn, links to a Department of Health and Human Services report on discrimination against survivors of abuse. The report describes a case of an insurer using abuse as a reason to access to medical care:

"Discrimination risks are real. A 1998 joint report developed by the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence (PCADV) and the Women's Law Project reported that a woman from rural Minnesota was beaten severely by her ex-husband. After remarrying, she applied for health insurance and was told that should would not be covered for treatment relating to the abuse-related pre-existing conditions of depression and neck injury."

I admire Senator Olympia Snowe. She is one of the last reasonable Republicans. She has been a leader in the fight to get survivors of abuse the help they need. I believe Senator Snowe is bargaining in good faith.

I also believe that Senator Snowe is facing a defining decision of her career. Will she stand with abused women, and back a strong non-profit option which will end the absurd practices of the insurance industry? Or will she stand with the insurance executives who would deny abused women care in order to pay for massive executive salaries, five figure bonuses for employees who meet denial quotas, and the gold plated silverware they use on corporate jets?