Opponents of the Obama administration’s contraceptive coverage mandate — including likely GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney — invoke “religious freedom.” But women’s groups and family planning organizations are convinced that the real objective is to limit access to birth control.
Six in ten Americans, including Catholics, said they support a requirement by the Obama administration that health plans supply free contraceptives as a preventive benefit for women.
Will all types of contraceptives be covered? How about vasectomies? Tubal ligations? If a procedure requires hospitalization, will that be covered, too?
Long-acting methods such as the IUD and the hormonal implant are nearly 100 percent effective, require no effort after insertion and protect against pregnancy for up to 10 years. (In contrast, birth control pills are about 92 percent effective, and many other common methods are even less reliable in everyday use.)
President Obama has revised the rule requiring that insurance plans offer free contraception, so that religious-affiliated groups don’t have to take responsibility for the coverage.
Investigate IVF clinics? Will there be a debate over Medicare’s future? Is Obama’s ruling on contraception an attack on religion? School-based health centers: a nonpartisan solution?
Articles on: Conflict of interest on FDA panels. Radiology residents charged with cheating. Why dentists oppose allowing mid-level dental practitioners provide care in rural and other underserved areas.
Health organizations and school districts are using Web sites and texting services to provide teens with accurate information about sex, the New York Times reports.
Are the brains of autistic children different? Do non-profit hospitals rake in too much money? Should doctors consider other careers?
C-section boom in Boston. A virus stalks the NBA. A hospital apologizes to actor James Wood. Personhood at conception? Judge-directed malpractice settlements. GOP missing the boat on health care reform?
Did conservatives invent the idea of a individual mandate that they now claim to abhor? Will Mississippi ban IVF? Do mammograms really save many lives?
Company covered IUD insertion but not their removal. The state ruled plans with comprehensive prescription coverage must cover contraceptives–and the services associated with their removal.
LocalHealthGuide is a health news and information web service for Seattle and the Puget Sound Region. We are independent and unaffiliated with any hospital, medical association or insurer. If you have questions or if your group has an upcoming event that you would like us to cover, please let us know by going to our "Contact Us" page and dropping us a note. -- Michael McCarthy, Editor
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