Via the NY Sun, this five minute video shows local upstate boy, South Carolina Representative Trey Gowdy, absolutely destroy Secretary of HHS Kathleen Sebelius. This really highlights the divide between the parties today:
Imagine that. A lawmaker wants to talk about the law.
I want to puke when she says that she doesn't pretend to understand the nuance of Constitutional law. She understands it fine - she just doesn't give a damn. Her goal is to advance contraception/healthcare/whatever she wants in any manner that she can regardless of the Constitution.
On a related note, what kind of idiot wants insurance coverage for birth control? Birth control is a regular, predictable, and recurring expense that people have. Insurance is for irregular, unpredictable, and catastrophic expenses that can be spread out over a large group.
Asking for insurance to cover your birth control is like asking for insurance to cover your deodorant.
I have to say, that's an interesting comparison - a health and beauty product you can buy on the shelf at any store that costs $2 and a medication you can only get through a prescription. Since my birth control is covered by the insurance I get through my employer, maybe I should ask them to cover my deodorant as well. Sweet!
ReplyDeleteJenny: I think that whether it is "medication" or not is irrelevant, and whether a prescription is required is also irrelevant. Insurance is designed to pool risk. I don't seek where "risk" factors in with a regular expense that you know in advance you're going to need...like birth control.
DeleteBirth control is a regular, foreseeable expense like deodorant, food, and gasoline. It's not something that insurance was designed to cover. I think people are hung up on the idea that anything that can be related to health should be covered by insurance.
While I agree with you almost completely where birth control is concerned, there are lots of "regular, predictable, and recurring expense" involved with almost every chronic health problem.
ReplyDeleteCouple that with the "improve your lifestyle or die" thinkers and... I don't like the possible (repeat, possible) results. Especially for non-smokers who get cancer, non-drinkers with cirrhosis, skinny diabetics, healthy overweight people, convicted criminals with any disease... it's a long list.
The real problem is that "health insurance" isn't even insurance.
It's pre-paying for health care. The method used to determine what an individual or group pays is based on risk. Since "health care" is now defined to include some preventive care, birth control is "covered". As is birth -- also a foreseeable expense, but much less "chronic" than it used to be due to birth control.