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Brewing Tea: The HHS Mandate on Women’s Health

By on February 6, 2012

It is a sign of what ails journalism that trying to find out what exactly is in the new Health and Human Services Mandate is a challenge. Opinion is everywhere, and it is trampling factual information. Hard facts about this decision are admittedly hard to find, even on-line where everything ends up eventually.  I just went to the HHS site where this was published and found the information temporarily unavailable.

This being an election year, political candidates who are looking around frantically for one more issue to bludgeon their opponents with, are grabbing at the breaking news before fully understanding it. Misinformation and disinformation are all over the place. Responsible voters can only run for cover as the politicians start swinging wildly.

On Monday HHS secretary Kathleen Sebelius issued new guidelines to insurance companies obliging them to offer the full range of preventive health services to women. Her comments in releasing this were that “Under the law, we’re making it illegal to charge women more just because of their gender,” according to Reuters.  Some insurance companies have charged women a higher premium because this coverage includes services surrounding pregnancy, fertility and hormone balance. Some employers have refused to offer family planning services and pregnancy terminations because of religious and political beliefs. These guidelines went into effect immediately.

The mandate also obliges screening for HIV, human papilloma virus, domestic violence and pregnancy-related diabetes as part of routine health screening.  The HHS department is also requiring that insurance companies phase out co-pays for this routine care. Many medical groups have been vocal about not saddling patients with co-pays for services that are vital to disease prevention in recent years. A July 2011 report from the Institute of Medicine,  the research arm of the National Academies of Science, a non-governmental agency, no for profit group chartered by Congress, urged these changes.

This latest flap comes on top of the recent controversy caused by the Susan G. Komen for the cure Foundation’s abrupt decision to withdraw funding from Planned Parenthood. The Komen Foundation, best known for its Race for the Cure which benefits breast cancer prevention and research, offered a limp apology as the uproar grew.  The tremendous reaction came largely from a number of women’s groups charging that political pressures from right-wing political groups had been behind the funding change. Some moderates like New York mayor Bloomberg also entered the fray. Caught like deer in the lights of an on-coming express, the Komen people have apparently reversed this decision, but the furor in fresh in the memory  of many American women.

The HHS new rules are already in place in 27 states that receive financial help from the Federal Government for their health care programs. There are also provisions that employees of churches and bone fide religious groups are exempt from the mandate, but the full-coverage, full array of service, no co-pay directive applies to all health insurance coverage offered by hospitals, universities and charitable organizations. That has not stopped conservative political and religious groups from attacking the mandate.

The expected negative reactions are coming from religious groups like the Catholic Church and other Fundamental groups who oppose birth control measures, especially the so-called morning after pill regarded as terminating a viable life. Conservative political groups have seized upon this action as yet another example of government intrusion into personal lives. Ironically these same groups have been very active the past two years in restricting access to even therapeutic abortions and any kind of family planning. It is an age-old battle of belief systems.

The posturing is just starting.  How this will all sort itself out remains to be seen. Some of the finer details will need further thought. Certainly this move is consistent with the Obama administration’s attempts to craft health care reform. That alone means the more strident elements that were out and about in 2009 on both sides will surface again. Well-heeled lobbyists will be active again be on the prowl in Foggy Bottom. More thoughtful folk will  feel besieged. Stay tuned, but  also stay informed, if you can.

Tom Godfrey

 

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