Gov't advisers: Cover birth control for free

[Derechos]

WASHINGTON — A panel of health experts is calling on the government to require that insurance companies cover birth control for free as preventive care for women under President Barack Obama's health overhaul.

The law requires coverage with no copayments for a broad set of preventive services, from blood pressure checks to cancer screenings. Whether to include birth control as prevention for women was so sensitive that the nonpartisan Institute of Medicine was asked to weigh in.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20110719/us-free-birth-control/

[LeftinOH]

1. As it should be. n/t

[kctim]

2. Yay, another rate hike

:thumbsdown:

[Arugula Latte]

5. You think unplanned pregnancies don't drive up rates?

[kctim]

7. I'm pro choice

so what I think is that I should have choice whether to pay for somebody's sex life or not.

[Mz Pip]

3. I agree

But I also question why birth control pills are so expensive. They've been around for decades; it's not like they are some new, exotic drug.

In all of this talk about what should or should not be covered, the cost of medication and services should also be addressed.

[Taverner]

4. If you wanted to save costs, birth control is the best way to do it

[gratuitous]

6. A dollar on preventive health care saves a lot later

While we all love babies, any number of babies would be better cared for, healthier and the parents would be in a much better position financially, emotionally, and responsible-wise if the timing of that birth could be better selected. Cheap and easy access to birth control is such a no-brainer that the only way to overcome the mountain of evidence of its efficacy is to cloak the objection in "morality" or some other camouflage that disguises the basic misogynistic position at work.