Today, the White House did the right thing for women, public health
and human rights. Despite deep concerns, including my own, based on
what transpired in the past under health reform, the White House has
decided on a plan to address the birth control mandate that will
enable women to get contraceptive coverage directly through their
insurance plans without having to buy a rider or a second plan, and
without having to negotiate with or through religious entities or
administrations that are hostile to primary reproductive health care,
including but not limited to contraception.
Under this plan, every insurance company will be obligated to provide
contraceptive coverage. Administration officials stated that a woman's
insurance company "will be required to reach out directly and offer
her contraceptive care free of charge. The religious institutions
will not have to pay for it."
Moreover, women will not have to opt in or out; contraceptive care
will be part of the basic package of benefits offered to everyone.
Contraceptive care will simply be "part of the bundle of services that
all insurance companies are required to offer," said a White House
official.
"We are actually more comfortable having the insurance industry offer
and market this to women than religious institutions," said the White
House official because they "understand how contraception works" to
prevent unintended pregnancy and reduce health care costs. "This makes
sense financially."
The way it works is this: Insurers will create policy not including
contraceptive coverage in the contract for religious organizations
that object. Second, the same insurance company must simultaneously
offer contraceptive coverage to all employees, and can not charge an
additional premium. This provides free contraceptive coverage to
women. The reason this works for insurance companies is because
offering contraception is cost-neutral and cost-effective; companies
realize the tremendous cost benefits of spacing pregnancies, and
limiting unintended pregnancies, planned pregnancies and health
benefits of contraception.
White House officials, speaking on background, said that the
accommodation--which they stress is not a compromise--fulfills two
principals. One is that all women will have access to the health care
they need no matter where they work; their access to contraceptive
services is guaranteed. "No longer will they have to struggle to pay
for it," said the White House official. At the same time, "we are
able to respect the beliefs of religious institutions." These are two
principals, the official said, "that the White House holds dear."
The rule will be applied to all but the original institutions that
were exempted—those for which religious inculcation is their primary
purpose—and will not be expanded to include other entities such as
hospitals, clinics, or social service organizations.
It most certainly will not, according to White House officials, exempt
private employers. The Bishops had made clear earlier this week that
their ultimate goal was to get rid of contraceptive coverage in health
reform entirely.
The White House said that they plan to publish the final rule as soon
as possible, and that it would go into effect on August 1, 2012, the
original date, removing the one-year grace period from the original
plan.
A White House official described the plan as providing "seamless
coverage" to women for contraceptive care and crafted to allay
concerns about privacy and confidentiality in accessing such coverage.
White House spokespeople pointed to support from two sides of the debate.
On one hand, Sister Carol Keehan of the Catholic Health Association
applauded the policy, although I could not find her statement at this
time.
And in a statement, Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood
Federation of America said:
"We believe the compliance mechanism does not compromise a woman's
ability to access these critical birth control benefits.
"However we will be vigilant in holding the administration and the
institutions accountable for a rigorous, fair and consistent
implementation of the policy, which does not compromise the essential
principles of access to care.
"The individual rights and liberties of all women and all employees in
accessing basic preventive health care is our fundamental concern.
"Planned Parenthood continues to believe that those institutions who
serve the broad public, employ the broad public, and receive taxpayer
dollars, should be required to follow the same rules as everyone else,
including providing birth control coverage and information.
"As a trusted health care provider to one in five women, Planned
Parenthood's priority is increasing access to preventive health care.
This birth control coverage benefit does just that.
"The birth control benefit underscores the fact that birth control is
basic health care, and is fundamental to improving women's health and
the health of their families.
--
Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy
--
Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy
--
Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups.
For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum
* Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/
* It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls.
* Read the latest breaking news, and more.
No comments:
Post a Comment