U.S. panel: Cover birth control for free Institute of Medicine recommends insurers be required to cover birth control without copays
WASHINGTON — Millions of women may soon gain free access to a broad menu of birth control methods, thanks to a recommendation issued Tuesday by health experts advising the government.
An Institute of Medicine panel recommended that the government require health insurance companies to cover birth control for women as a preventive service, without copayments. Contraception — along with such care as diabetes tests during pregnancy and screening for the virus that causes cervical cancer — was one of eight recommended preventive services for women.
First, expect a fight over social mores. Catholic bishops and some other religious and social conservatives say pregnancy is a healthy condition and the government should not require insurance coverage of drugs and other methods that prevent it.
However, short of repealing provisions of the health care law, it's unclear what opponents can do to block the recommendations. The final decision, by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, is expected to be issued quickly.
Birth control use is virtually universal in the United States, according to government statistics. Generic versions of the pill are available for as little as $9 a month at big drug store chains.
This is a classic example of what is wrong with goverment providing everything. I can understand when the Feds are brought in to provide lifetime dialysis care, it is expensive.
But people really can't even pay $9 a month to provide their own birth control? They probably spent more than $9 on the drinks they had before the sex.
How much does a condom cost? I think even the poorest American can afford a box of condoms.
Thomas Sowell: There are no solutions, just trade-offs.
Yes- require all insurance to cover birth control- that won't raise the cost of insurance for us.
HUH.
What ever happened to the idea that insurance was for covering those catastrophic costs- not the everyday costs like checkups, pap smears and birth control.
I need a car everyday too- can Obama and the progressives start paying for that too?
BearMtnHIB wrote: Yes- require all insurance to cover birth control- that won't raise the cost of insurance for us.
HUH.
What ever happened to the idea that insurance was for covering those catastrophic costs- not the everyday costs like checkups, pap smears and birth control.
I need a car everyday too- can Obama and the progressives start paying for that too?
Why should my insurance premiums pay for your erectile dysfunction?
BearMtnHIB wrote: Yes- require all insurance to cover birth control- that won't raise the cost of insurance for us.
HUH.
What ever happened to the idea that insurance was for covering those catastrophic costs- not the everyday costs like checkups, pap smears and birth control.
Yep, let's just have insurance cover those CATASTROPHIC costs, like the ones the result from lack of access to birth control. Let's see, pre-natal care, delivery and hospitalization for mom and baby, extraordinary care that can cost up to $500k a WEEK if the baby is premature or ill, and then 18 or 20 years of pediatric care for the child.
To save ten bucks a month on contraceptives?
And you think progressives are short sighted? rofllol rofllol
