On average, four women are killed in the US every day by a current or former partner. Every day. In 2008, the CDC reported that women experience two million injuries from intimate partner violence each year. According to data published by the Family Violence Prevention Fund, this violence can have lingering health consequences: one study reported that women who experience DV are 80% more likely to have a stroke, 70% more likely to have heart disease, 60% more likely to have asthma and 70% more likely to drink heavily than women who have not. And in 2003, a study reported that 37% of women who experience DV talk to their health care provider about it.
Here's some good news: The House version of the Health Reform bill contains a provision that all insurers must reimburse health care providers who assess patients for DV and provide initial counseling and referrals. The bill also contains an important measure to prevent insurers from treating DV as a pre-existing condition and, thus, discriminate against victims.
Hopefully, these provisions will survive the ensuring debate and make it into the joint bill.
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