White House Announces New Guidelines For Women’s Health Care
EmailABC News’ Mary Bruce (@marykbruce) Reports:
The White House announced new guidelines for women's health care today to ensure that women receive a wide range of preventive care including contraception, domestic violence screenings and breastfeeding support at no additional cost.
“The Affordable Care Act helps stop health problems before they start,” Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said today. “These historic guidelines are based on science and existing literature and will help ensure women get the preventive health benefits they need.”
The new guidelines were developed by the independent Institute of Medicine which conducted a scientific review and provided recommendations on the specific preventive measures needed to keep women healthy.
Starting Aug. 1, 2012, new health insurance plans will be required to cover women’s preventive care without charging a co-pay or deductible. The new guidelines require health insurers to provide FDA-approved birth control, including emergency contraception such as the morning-after pill, HIV screenings, and well-women visits, among other services.
The guidelines also include an amendment that allows religious institutions that offer insurance to their employees the choice of whether or not to cover contraception services.
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There is no such thing as these things being provided at “no additional cost”. We will all pay for them.
Do men get free birth control and free domestic violence screening as well?
Posted by: MayBee | August 1, 2011, 3:30 pm 3:30 pm
The free birth control for women and free domestic violence screenings just show how much these policies are going to be decided by favored political groups and special interests.
Posted by: MayBee | August 1, 2011, 3:37 pm 3:37 pm
Oh those darn women, why are they always so much trouble! As if they need ‘preventative’ care – men don’t need preventative care – they take care of themselves!
Posted by: Tern | August 1, 2011, 3:43 pm 3:43 pm
Virtually every medical service has a copay.It isn’t to generate revenue,it is to restrict needless overutilization of services.Even a $10 copay has been noted to reduce inappropriate visits.This also is sexist-where is the HIV testing for men,the free condoms,the well-men medical evaluations?Why should women get the exclusive right to preventive care?
Posted by: Nephron | August 1, 2011, 3:44 pm 3:44 pm
One reason health care is so high is that it’s full cost is not realized by the consumer. A $20/$30 copay barely covers anything and the consumer acts like it’s free. And now it is free.
Posted by: migraine | August 1, 2011, 3:45 pm 3:45 pm
Condoms are perhaps more important as a preventative health measure than the pill, no?
Posted by: MayBee | August 1, 2011, 3:58 pm 3:58 pm
I am amazed but not surprised that the far-right comments here express an inequality for women getting birth control and men not getting free condoms.
Did they object that men’s viagra, was covered by insurance while women’s birth control wasn’t? Which medicine affects health and future well-being more?
Honestly, if you can’t see that a poor or any married woman’s health isn’t affected by pregnancy after pregnancy, you aren’t looking at the problem realistically.
Posted by: Lydia | August 2, 2011, 11:48 am 11:48 am
Migraine, I don’t know of anyone who goes to the doctor because they don’t have a co-pay, except the rare hypocondriac.
It is an unpleasant experience to go to the doctor. To be in a waiting room with sick people, usually having to wait a long time past your appointment designated time, being poked and prodded, etc. is something people want to avoid, unless they are sick.
It is not going to the doctor that kills people. A delay in the presence of stroke, heart attack, many infections, including pneumonia, kills 45,000 uninsured Americans every year.
Posted by: Lydia | August 2, 2011, 12:09 pm 12:09 pm
Did they object that men’s viagra, was covered by insurance while women’s birth control wasn’t? Which medicine affects health and future well-being more?
Honestly, if you can’t see that a poor or any married woman’s health isn’t affected by pregnancy after pregnancy, you aren’t looking at the problem realistically.
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Lydia, as far as I know there was no Federal mandate the every US citizen had to pay for coverage for Viagra.
If there was an insurance company that did that, it was entirely within its customer’s powers to demand they cover birth control.
However, covering birth control with no copay is very expensive. It could be that it was actually cheaper to buy birth control than to pay the premiums for the coverage.
In any case, the option was there to buy or not buy that insurance, or to try to encourage your insurance provider to provide the coverage.
What the government is doing right now is issuing mandates about what has to be covered “for free” by insurance companies. Which means there is not a man, woman, or child in the US who will not have to pay higher premiums due to undisciplined federal coverage mandates. You won’t be able to buy less expensive insurance that leaves off some of the things you don’t feel you need.
And yes, pregnancy affects women. As does AIDs. As does cancer. As does bipolar disorder. Why not insist those things are covered with no co-pay, no deductible?
Do you think there is any limit to what the Federal Government can compel us to pay for when it comes to health insurance? It’s all important. It’s all about better health, right?
Posted by: MayBee | August 2, 2011, 8:52 pm 8:52 pm
The best way to cut costs accumulated with the use of contraception is to use Natural Family Planning. It’s accuracy is rated the same as birth control, is FREE, and leaves no harmful and unnatural effects on the woman’s body. If these government officials really cared about the rights and health of women they would incorporate this. All that they are concerned with is getting the votes and money from special interest groups like Planned Parenthood who literally make billions off of the Pill.
Posted by: Cris | August 3, 2011, 11:23 am 11:23 am
WHO will be paying for these FREE services? WHY does my insurance company say this is bogus and no one is receiving a FREE yearly physical?
Posted by: BarbieDoll | August 11, 2011, 7:17 am 7:17 am
Interesting article. Conversely I’m not convinced that I agree with many of the viewpoints expressed.
Posted by: Paul Clark | October 13, 2011, 9:28 am 9:28 am