Wife-Beating Branded a 'Pre-Existing Condition'

It is legal in eight states and in DC for insurers to reject victims of domestic violence because being beaten up by your spouse qualifies as "a pre-existing health condition" the Huffington Post reports. If you're in a marriage where it's happened once, the logic goes, you're more likely than the average person to get beaten up again. Democrats campaigning for health care reform note that they tried to outlaw the practice three years ago, but were defeated by Republicans on the Senate Health Committee.

Wyoming Sen. Mike Enzi—a member of the "Gang of Six" lawmakers trying to forge a bipartisan health bill—was among those who voted it down, arguing that it could increase the price of insurance. A survey of insurance companies in 1994 found eight of 16 wouldn't insure victims of domestic violence.
(More health care stories.)