A recent press release by Rick Palacio, Chairman of the Colorado Democratic Party states:
Soon, the Department of Health and Human Services will require all new insurance plans to cover birth control, breast pumps for new mothers, counseling on domestic violence, and many other essentials. Women will not be charged co-pays, thanks to these rules that were required by the Affordable Care Act.
It’s easy to get discouraged by the grinding nature of debates in Washington. But Monday’s news reminds us that our hard-earned victories reverberate for years, and they improve tens of millions of lives. Despite the inevitable frustrations, we continue our fights because our causes are worth the effort. …
One victory at a time can change lives. One single part of Health Care Reform means huge protections for women’s health.
Here’s the details from what’s perhaps one of the scariest domain names ever: Healthcare.gov.
What if government taxed everyone to pay for breast pumps and birth control, regardless of if you use them? This is a socialist financing scheme, which currently exists for government run schools. The Health & Human Services’ mandate on all new health plans (“insurance”) to cover breast pumps and birth control is just one example of how the 2010 health control act turns insurance companies into a vehicle for socialized medicine.
Also note that breast pumps and birth control fall way outside the realm of what real insurance is supposed to be. For homeowners insurance and car insurance, you never want to make a claim. That means something undesirable happened. You’re insured against undesired events. Sure, becoming pregnant can be undesired, but (rape aside) can only happen if you choose to be sexually active.
In this sense, birth control is itself a type of insurance, but to mandate that all health plans cover it is like mandating that all health plans allow policy holders to buy condoms. Why stop there?
How about requiring all health plans to cover protective expenditures like bike helmets and new brakes on your car?
Also note that Mr. Palacio considers birth control and breast pumps to be “essential.” This is odd given that most discussion of universal politically controlled coverage that Democrats want assumes that all medical care is a life-or-death emergency.
The bigger point is that insurers should be free to sell health plans that cover such items, but not be forced to. What should be the penalty for selling such illegal plans that don’t have these mandates? Companies in MA were fined for doing so, even though certainly some customers wanted the plans free of costly mandates.
(Via Ari Armstrong)
