Tag Archives: health-care reform

Obama Settles Birth Control Debate, Telling Insurers They Must Pick Up Tab If Employer Won’t

Jessica Wakeman11 hours ago //
Birth Control Victory
birth control pills photo
Birth control will be covered by most employers under health care reform. Read More »
Birth Control Lies
Rick Santorum says it "is not something you need insurance for." Read More »
Mitt On Morning After
Mitt Romney photo
Mitt Romney called the morning after pill "abortive pills." Read More »
birth control pills photo

Every woman will have access to birth control under the Obama administration’s latest decision regarding health care reform, which was meant to appease Catholic bishops who balked at a previous iteration of the rule. White House officials stated on Friday that insurers must create a policy that doesn’t offer coverage of contraceptives that can be used by religiously-affiliated employers that object. But insurers also have to offer a plan that covers contraceptives without co-pays or deductibles and they are required to reach out and offer it to women. Explicitly religious employers, such as houses of worship, are still exempt from covering contraception in their prescription plans. Keep reading »

Today’s Lady News: Rick Santorum Says Birth Control “Just Costs A Few Dollars,” Is Not Something “You Need Insurance For”

Jessica WakemanFebruary 10, 2012 //
Birth Control Victory
birth control pills photo
Birth control will be covered by most employers under health care reform. Read More »
BC Should Be Covered
Birth control should be covered by health care plans, says report. Read More »
Mitt On Morning After
Mitt Romney photo
Mitt Romney called the morning after pill "abortive pills." Read More »
Rick Santorum birth control
  • Oh, Rick Santorum, just shut up already! He told conservatives at the CPAC  conference today that insurers shouldn’t cover the cost of birth control because it “costs just a few dollars. Is that what insurance is for?” He continued, adding “Things that are not really things you need insurance for, and still forcing on something that is not a critical economic need, when you have an economic distress, where you would need insurance. But forcing them even more to do it for minor expenses.” Regardless of what your opinions on health care reform are, Rick Santorum is just WRONG. It’s not “just a few dollars.” It’s not a “minor expense.”  My birth control pills had a co-pay of $60 — that’s with insurance — so I stopped taking them because they were out of my budget. [Think Progress]
  • Yes, let’s all fight about Liz Lemon on “30 Rock” some more. [NPR]
  • No female TSA agents on duty meant a Denver woman was not allowed to board a flight. She was not even allowed to sign a waiver and approve a male TSA agent pat her down.  How ridiculous! [KDVR] 
  • Blogger Alyssa Rosenberg on the New York Giants’ Brandon Jacobs, who suggested Gisele Bundchen “look cute and shut up,” and how sexism silences wives of famous men. [Think Progress] Keep reading »

Birth Control Will Be Covered By Most Employers, Obama Administration Announces

Jessica WakemanJanuary 20, 2012 //
BC Should Be Covered
Birth control should be covered by health care plans, says report. Read More »
BC For Everybody
Health insurers are required to offer birth control without co-pays. Read More »
They're So Stupid
Yes, covering birth control is just like covering "manicures and pedicures." Read More »
birth control pills photo

Most employers will be required to cover the full cost of contraception and other preventative services in their health plans under the Affordable Care Act, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced today. This means that women’s preventative health care like birth control will be available without co-pays or deductibles when Obama’s health care reform law goes into effect in August 1, 2012. 

This past August, the Department of Health and Human Services announced that health insurers would be required to cover birth control without co-pays following the release of a report by the Institute of Medicine. That independent panel of doctors had cited coverage of preventative health care, such as STD screening and birth control, in its recommendation of best practices.  

(And of course the talking boobs on Fox News wasted no time asking what Blue Cross/Blue Shield will be forced to cover next — manicures and pedicures?!?!  Really. Someone said that. )

Keep reading »

Today’s Lady News: House Passes “Protect Life Act”

Jessica WakemanOctober 14, 2011 //
Today's Lady News
  • Yesterday the House of Representatives passed the “Protect Life Act,” a bill that prohibits federal funds under Obama’s healthcare reform from going towards any health insurance plans that cover abortion services. You should watch Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) statement on this crappy bill here. [Washington Post]
  • People with eating disorders are fighting to have health insurance companies cover treatment of their mental illness the same way it covers treatment for other mental illnesses, like depression. [New York Times]
  • GOP wannabe presidential candidate Mitt Romney said something positive about lesbian and gay couples and adoption rights, sort of. Sigh. [Think Progress]
    Keep reading »

Should Boob Jobs Help Fund Health-Care Reform?

Leonora EpsteinAugust 11, 2009 //

Obviously, money is a huge hurdle when it comes to Obama’s trillion-dollar health-care plan, but here’s one revenue source government officials may consider: tax on plastic surgery. The excise “bo-tax” (no we didn’t make that term up, but wish we could take credit) allegedly being floated around by the feds would be placed on cosmetic procedures that aren’t medical necessities, like boob jobs, teeth whitening, Botox injections, and face lifts. New Jersey already imposes such taxes, the revenue of which, we’d surmise, comes largely from the cast of “The Real Housewives of New Jersey.” Keep reading »