Dems HR3962 throws women under the bus on exams, birth control, abortion

lambert's picture

Really. Could access bloggers, progressive boiz, and the FKDP be giving women the big "Fuck you" any more obviously? The Nation:

None of the bills emerging from the House and Senate require insurers to cover all the elements of a standard gynecological "well visit," leaving essential care such as pelvic exams, domestic violence screening, counseling about sexually transmitted diseases, and, perhaps most startlingly, the provision of birth control off the list of basic benefits all insurers must cover. Nor are these services protected from "cost sharing," which means that, depending on what's in the bill that emerges from the Senate, and, later, the contents of a final bill, women could wind up having to pay for some of these services out of their own pockets. So far, mammograms and Pap tests are covered in every version of the legislation.

Granted, Congress can't--and shouldn't--get into the business of spelling out every possible cause for a trip to the doctor. No one wants the process to collapse under a mountain of requests from special interest groups à la the Clinton mess in 1993. But women, half of all adult patients, are not a special interest group. And since both the House and Senate bills include lists of specific services that must be covered by health insurance companies and be provided without asking patients for additional money, it's hard to understand [really? Why?] why all the services provided in a basic well-woman visit to the gynecologist isn't on them along with maternity care, newborn care, pediatric dental and vision services, and substance use disorder services.

Well, women have no place to go. That's the problem.

The fault for the initial omission can be laid at the feet of Democrats, who shied away from the issue, not wanting to invite controversy, according to women's health advocates who tried unsuccessfully to get women's preventive health care included in the basic benefits package. ....

Still, some Democrats involved in the health reform sausage-making process counsel patience. Noting that both Pap smears and mammograms should be covered by a reform bill, Senator Al Franken said, "There's more we need to do for women's health, but this is a huge step forward for American women, many of whom don't get these recommended screenings right now. What we pass may not be perfect, but it will make progress in improving the lives and health of women."

Yay! Thanks, "progressives"!

Remind me again why any bill is better than a bad bill?

NOTE Via MO Blue at Talk Left.

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BDBlue's picture

Natasha Chart and Melissa McEwan

Also have relevant and good reads on this issue: No Rescuse from Democratic Misogyny and How Could a Feminist Even CONSIDER Not Voting Democratic?!

It's particularly interesting to read the difference between now and 1993, when Hillary Clinton said that healthcare reform would include reproductive and abortion services for women. It's change alright, just not the good kind.

"Do what you feel in your heart to be right -- for you'll be criticized anyway. You'll be damned if you do, and damned if you don't. " - Eleanor Roosevelt

Aeryl's picture

Jinx

I was seriously about to put those some two links up.

This is so infuriating. The entire efforts before Congress right now deserve to fail. Anybody up to start a snit, demanding Viagra not be covered? I mean, if we can't require necessary health services for half the population, why the hell should we provide boners?

Vibrators all around, I say!

He who will not reason is a bigot; he who cannot is a fool; and he who dares not is a slave.
- Sir William Drummond

cwaltz's picture

They are mistaken

There is always someplace to go. They may not like where I will go with my vote but after last election cycle I think that they will find it gets easier and easier to vote against people that lie to my face and repeatedly stab my gender in the back.

quixote's picture

I wonder

I wonder how the young folk feel who voted for this smarmy conman, and are now finding out that, why, yes, elections do have consequences?

a little night musing's picture

I can't speak to the "youngfolk"

but a rather depressing development at my workplace was the appearance of posters supporting the candidacy of Bill Thompson for Mayor of NYC (No comment intended on Bill Thompson, who seems to be an OK guy though I voted for Rev. Billy):

We elected a President, now let's elect a Mayor.
(With photos of Obama and Thompson side-by-side.)

I find this disgusting.

For the record, not my ethnic group, although I was under heavy pressure to vote Bloomberg from my own. (Long story, but I don't hate Bloomberg, but never voted for him nonetheless.)

But the "We elected a President"? I mean WTF?!

We can't afford not to have single-payer!

Obama has been telling conservatives of both parties for months

he would not demand coverage for that aspect of women's reproductive health. No federal monies for abortion. Period.

Get back under the bus, you brazen hussies!

What a great "Dem" prez, eh!??!

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