One more problem with federal interference in the payment for health care is whether or not Federal tax money will be used to pay for abortions. I've been worrying about what I'd do about my taxes if the law makes me complicit to this extent.
From the Kaiser Foundation:
An ultimatum against using federal money for abortion procedures could reopen the politically treacherous rift over the issue, creating yet another obstacle for congressional Democrats to overcome if they are to achieve their health reform goals, Time reports. "While current versions of the [health reform] legislation do not address the abortion issue at all, late last month 19 anti-abortion Democrats in the House sent a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, warning 'we cannot support any health care reform proposal unless it explicitly excludes abortion from the scope of any government-defined or subsidized health insurance plan.'"
Congress banned spending federal Medicaid dollars on abortions in 1976, and all but 17 states banned paying for the procedures with state Medicaid funds, too. However, as many as 90 percent of private insurers do pay for abortions and the restrictions the legislators are demanding could compromise those benefits. Under one proposal, individuals earning up to $43,000 a year who get subsidies to buy insurance could not purchase a policy that has abortion coverage. "And it would raise all sorts of other questions if insurers were allowed to discriminate among their customers based on whether or not they are using federal dollars to pay for their policies," Time reports.
"Abortion rights advocacy groups are pushing back. On Monday, the National Women's Law Center released a poll of 1,000 likely voters conducted by the Mellman Group indicating that 71% favor including reproductive services such as birth control and abortion as part of health reform," Time reports. "The poll also found that 75% believe an independent commission should determine what medical services are covered among the basic benefits offered under health reform" (Tumulty, 7/8).
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
Will you pay for abortions?
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3 comments:
My concern is that those people trying so hard to ensure tax money never pays for a single abortion are doing so without the slightest consideration of what else they may inadvertantly prevent it paying for. As far as I am aware there is no organisation that provides abortion and no other service - if restrictions are too tight it'll mean less spending on contraception and related education, and even in cancer screening, as these services are often provided by the same organisations that perform abortions.
I read a lot of newsletters and such from pro-life campaign groups, and they all seem very reluctant to admit that any company that provides abortion is capable of providing a more positive service too - many of them vilify Planned Parenthood in particular, campaigning for bills that ban a single cent of government funding going there while never admitting that much of that funding is to provide breast and cervical cancer screening to low-income women.
I think they have just gotten so worked up over the abortion, so focused on just this one issue, that all else pales into insignificence for them - they no longer care what the other consequences of their actions are, so long as they can reduce the abortion count.
SR, there are private funds for advocacy for abortion and for assisting minors in getting around parental notification/consent.
Unashamedly, I do not want my tax dollars to pay for elective abortions --- remember, I believe that these violate the fundamental right to life that you and I have.
If the money for screenings were available to us, family docs (Family Physicians, Internal Medicine docs, OB/Gyns, and Peds) would do them - as well as treat the conditions when we find them and provide comprehensive care for blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, etc. One stop shopping.
Suricou Raven, what you are saying is that groups that provide abortion services make a surplus on that service and use the proceeds to provide Pap smears and condoms at below cost??
When government funds are used to pay for a service, that service has a billing code. The government can pay for some services and refuse to pay for other billing codes. This in no way restricts or reduces the money available for services that are not objectionable.
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