May 18, 2012

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IO: Stop Sex Discrimination in Health Insurance

Innovation Ohio, as part of our Women’s Watch Initiative, released a report, Insurance, Gender Rating and Sex Discrimination, in partnership with the National Women’s Law Center. The report found that a typical 40-year old Ohio woman buying an individual policy pays anywhere from 20 to 50% more than a 40-year old male and 60% of insurance plans sold in Ohio charge non-smoking women higher premiums than male smokers. This discrimination costs Ohio women over $46.5 million annually.

Anti-women bills on the fast track in Ohio Legislature

Innovation Ohio, as part of our Ohio Women’s Watch initiative, has reviewed legislation introduced during the 129th General Assembly, and the results are striking. Anti-women bills are nearly twice as likely to have received a legislative hearing and ten times more likely to have been brought to the floor of the House or Senate for a vote. Read our analysis.

Welcome to Ohio Women’s Watch

Our new project, Ohio Women’s Watch, will ensure that no sneak attack goes unnoticed and that the women of this state are armed with the facts, arguments, and analyses we need to fight back. On our blog we explain that while Ohio women may have won this week’s skirmish over de-funding Planned Parenthood, it’s clear that the War on Women is alive and well, with many more battles yet to come.

IO Report: Tax Fairness and the Buffett Rule

Innovation Ohio, in collaboration with the Center for American Progress, has analyzed federal tax data and found that fully 99 percent of Ohio taxpayers live in a zip code where the effective combined federal income and payroll tax rate exceeds that paid by the richest residents of some of America’s wealthiest zip codes. With the US Senate set to vote on the so-called “Buffett rule,” this finding confirms that Ohio’s middle class are carrying a heavy burden while some of the wealthiest Americans are not paying their fair share.