Posted on 02/10/2012 1:44:27 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Take a look at the White House fact sheet just released on the president's "accommodation" on the Health and Human Services ruling on contraceptives and religious liberty:
"Under the new policy to be announced today, women will have free preventive care that includes contraceptive services no matter where she [sic] works. The policy also ensures that if a woman works for a religious employer with objections to providing contraceptive services as part of its health plan, the religious employer will not be required to provide, pay for or refer for contraception coverage, but her insurance company will be required to directly offer her contraceptive care free of charge.
The new policy ensures women can get contraception without paying a co-pay and fully accomodates [sic] important concerns raised by religious groups by ensuring that objecting non-profit religious employers will not have to provide contraceptive coverage or refer women to organizations that provide contraception."
The language above reads that "women" (I believe the president means all women) will be receiving free preventive care under the Affordable Care Act, including contraception without a co-pay, "no matter where she works." And a woman's "insurance company will be required to directly offer her" free contraception. What has changed from earlier this week?
The administration is trying to pull a fast one here. "No matter where she works" sure sounds to me like it includes all religious employers. According to the language above, religious employers will still be compelled to offer health insurance to their employees that includes contraception, especially the morning-after pillby the way, I don't think any Catholic considers a morning-after pill to be "preventive care"only now under the guise that it's the insurance companies, not the employers, who are offering the healthcare plans. In our family, we get our health insurance through my husband's employer. Like most families, when we have issues with our coverage, it's not the H.R. department at my husband's office that I call. I call the health insurance company. Everyone knows that it is health insurance companies, not the employers, who offer the actual coverage. That's why this announcement today doesn't pass the smell test.
It doesn't change a thing. It's no surprise that Planned Parenthood released a statement in support of today's decision before the president had even announced it.
It's clear that the president felt he had to move quickly here, and I think the lack of thoughtfulness is going to backfire. It was obvious to anyone watching the news this week that this had become bigger than a fight about contraception and bigger than the Republican Party. It was becoming even bigger than Catholic voters.
Former White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley was the first to express concern, then according to Politico this week, the White House began losing Democratic support. Former Democratic National Committee chairman and Virginia Senate candidate Tim Kaine; the Democratic senator from Pennsylvania, Bob Casey; House Democratic Caucus Chairman John Larson; Democratic Rep. Daniel Lipinski of Illinois; and Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia all came out against the ruling. (Manchin, in fact, called the HHS ruling "un-American.") The outrage also widened beyond just Catholics: more and more religious leaders were signing onin op-ed pages, on morning television shows, not to mention all the Shabbat and Christian services and Sunday masses this weekend. The White House knew it was losing ground quickly and they're hoping this will stop the outrage.
The ruling to force universal "access to preventive care" was a deliberate decision by the White House, months in the making, and this so-called "accommodation" reinforces the administration's commitment to its prochoice agenda. It does nothing to accommodate people of good faith who disagree with the president; instead he accuses those who object to his policy of trying to create a "political football." The reason this struck such a chord with so many is not because it was about birth control pills or even access to care. This galvanized people across the board because it threatened religious freedom for all denominations, it was an issue of conscience that cut across party lines, and it touched the lives of everyone who is involved with good church-run community organizations that I believe still face bankruptcy for their beliefs. This isn't over yet.
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Mary Kate Cary is a former White House speechwriter for President George H.W. Bush. She currently writes speeches for political and business leaders.
No, it doesn’t change a thing.
An edge of a wedge is still an edge.
I suppose its a side issue, but can someone answer this question?
How does a president get to tell an entire industry that they must give something away “free”? where does this authority come from?
“the religious employer will not be required to provide, pay for or refer for contraception coverage, but her insurance company will be required to directly offer her contraceptive care free of charge.”
Obama shows no understanding of how insurance works (sort of disturbing since he takes such an interest in it).
My company self insures...we pay BC/BS to manage our paperwork and put a ‘face’ on our insurance plan. But make no mistake, its our money, in its own little pot. This is a common way for mid sized companies to insure its employees.
Where does O think insurance companies get their money anyway? ;Somebody else’s stash?
“How does a president get to tell an entire industry that they must give something away free? where does this authority come from?”
The Obamacare bill...reason number 47 why its not constitutional...except I wouldn’t count on the SCOTUS to come to the same conclusion.
It is truly mind boggling to behold the unmitigated gall. We have 535 elected represemtatives. You could not construct a single functioning backbone from the lot of them.
I remember America. RIP.
Congress passed ObamaCare, this is just “ironing” out the details, as i understand it.
What sucks is that you and I are paying for the murder of unborn children.
How does that make you feel?
Obama is trying to collapse every aspect of this society. His goal is destroy this country.
Either we will destroy him in November at the ballot box, or he will destroy us with 4 more years of this treason.
What this really tells me is that the entire administration has no idea how medical insurance works. (or, they don’t care, it’s just a sound bite, we’ll figure out the details later...)
Of course, mandating payment and coverage takes it out of the realm of insurance anyway, and makes it strictly a 3rd party payer.
Which is why all medical insurance companies will go broke within a few years.
For instance- if you can’t exclude the idiot who keeps gasoline in his attic from getting fire insurance, then it’s not really insurance, right?
NOTHING IS FREE.
They can raise the rates, and call it free but the insured is paying for it.
Why does Obama feel that Birth Control Sterilisation, and Abortions should be free or paid for by those who do not want them.
If you want Birth Control fine. BUY it.
Abortion? It’s your choice PAY for it.
Sterilisation? Great Pay for it.
Why shoud I have to pay because some teen ager can’t keep her legs closed.
Any one asked the Hispanics (who are largely Catholic) what they think?
It comes down to 1 thing....who are they to force anyone to do anything?
So did obummer renege or not...At the end of the day, he still has his hand in someone’s pocket — Nothing in life is free.
Cubs Fan, authority comes from the Mikulski amendment, where the senator refused to exclude abortion from the amendment. I tried to post a link on another thread but my post wasn’t approved. If you go to cnsnewsDOTcom and use the search box to bring up a 7/15/09 article titled “How Senator Mikulski Slipped an Abortion Mandate into the Health Care Bill” you can find out more.
Mikulski gave HHS authority to define anything preventive, even if it’s elective and clearly not a disease preventive. This forces everyone to subsidize it via insurance premiums. And also via federal taxes because taxes will subsidize certain types of insurance policies, and most likely preventive care grants as well.
The most Marian country in the world (w/the possible exception of Poland) may be my next stop:
http://www.LivingInThePhilippines.com
Article II of the 1987 Philippine Constitution says, in part, “Section 12. The State recognizes the sanctity of family life and shall protect and strengthen the family as a basic autonomous social institution. It shall equally protect the life of the mother and the life of the unborn from conception.
The act is criminalized by the Revised Penal Code of the Philippines, which was enacted in 1930 and remains in effect today. Articles 256, 258 and 259 of the Code mandate imprisonment for the woman who undergoes the abortion, as well as for any person who assists in the procedure, even if they be the woman’s parents, a physician or midwife. Article 258 further imposes a higher prison term on the woman or her parents if the abortion is undertaken “in order to conceal [the woman’s] dishonor”.
U. S. House of Representatives
Toll free capital switchboard numbers are:
800-965-4701
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