ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images(LOS ANGELES) — Million Dollar Baby star Hilary Swank is taking legal action against SAG-AFTRA after claiming their health plan refused to cover treatment for her malignant ovarian cysts.
According to the court docs obtained by People, the 46-year-old actress alleges that their “antiquated, barbaric” health plan denied covering her treatment, which she says reflects a much larger problem in the health insurance industry as a whole.
Swank was first diagnosed with ovarian cysts in 2008 after her “left ovary was destroyed and removed during emergency surgery.”
According to the suit, SAG-AFTRA’s health insurance first “stopped allowing Swank’s claims for treatment of ovarian cysts” in 2015.
When speaking with People, the actress said her suit is just one of many examples of the many shortcomings when it comes to protecting women’s health.
In a statement, the two-time Academy Award winner said she’s “truly exhausted by the way women’s ovarian and cyclical health issues continue to be treated by healthcare insurance companies.”
“I have experienced it in my own life, and I continually read about it across social media and in the press,” she continued. “Their policies are antiquated, barbaric and primarily view the role of women’s organs solely as a means for procreation.”
By launching a suit, Swank hopes “to create change for all woman suffering from women’s health issues that have to battle with insurance companies who diminish the significance of their problems, don’t believe the patient (or their doctor’s) explanations surrounding their suffering, and severely preclude coverage to only incredibly limited services and procedures.”
Saying she wants to be a voice for women wronged by the health industry, Swank remarked, “It’s time we are treated fairly.”
The SAG-AFTRA Health Plan has not commented publicly on the suit.
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