health care reform

I firmly believe the requirements under the Affordable Care Act, and the slate of regulations being created to implement it, infringe on no one’s conscience, demand no one change her or his religious beliefs, discriminate against no man or woman, put no additional economic burden on the poor, interfere with no one’s medical decisions, compromise no one’s health -- that is, if you consider the law without refusal clauses.

In the eyes of virulent anti-choice Congressmen like Joe Pitts (R-PA), Chris Smith (R-NJ), Eric Cantor (R-VA), and Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), all life is "sacred"... except that which is a) female or b) actually born. How else to explain the facts? 

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As the New York Times reports today, Republican lawmakers in New York, who see it as their "mission" to block heath reform, have blocked the state from applying for large amounts of federal assistance to create health insurance exchanges, which are mandatory under the law.

Follow Jodi Jacobson on Twitter, @jljacobson

The following the letter documents the infuriating, scary, time-consuming and unconscionable experience I have had trying to move from one state to another without losing adequate health insurance.

Today the ACLU of Kansas and Western Missouri brought a challenge against my home state’s ban on comprehensive insurance coverage of abortion.  The case was brought on behalf of the ACLU’s members who are losing their abortion coverage as a result of the law – I am one of those members.

Does the state really want to go back to no access to affordable care for all?

The Department of Health and Human Services has adopted guidelines for insurance coverage on women's preventive health services that include all the recommendations recently made by the Institute of Medicine and require new health insurance plans to cover women’s preventive services such as well-woman visits, breastfeeding support, domestic violence screening, and contraception without charging a co-payment, co-insurance or a deductible.

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The anti-choice, anti-contraceptive, anti-women arguments against insurance coverage for birth control now includes this gem from Fox News's Bill O'Reilly. 

Advocates' success in winning contraceptive access has often been hard fought on a state-by-state basis, with many challenges along the way. But in adotping the Institute of Medicine's recommendations, the Obama Adminsitration can transcend this piecemeal approach by enacting comprehensive, nationwide reform.

In a new--and much-anticipated--report, the Institute of Medicine recommends that health reform guidelines for preventive care to be developed by the HHS include no-copay for contraception and a wide range of preventive services.

Follow Jodi Jacobson on Twitter, @jljacobson