The Obama administration has ordered insurers to cover prescription contraceptives and other "women's wellness" services and products -- including breast pumps for nursing mothers, an annual “well-woman” physical, screening for the virus that causes cervical cancer and for diabetes during pregnancy and counseling on domestic violence -- without co-pays:
Let's put this in its proper context. Thanks to this new mandate, insurers will eat hundreds of millions or perhaps billions of dollars in additional costs each year. Guess how they will recoup those costs? Premiums will rise across the board, meaning that everyone will pay the additional cost as well as the specific patients getting the services and products.
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This edict got handed down from the mountain purely for political purposes. The Obama administration wants to bolster its standing with women ahead of the next election; this mandate will probably get featured in an endless series of campaign ads.
This could be railed against on so many levels. But, just one thing here: Would I be a wimpy, whiny Nancy boy for decrying the obvious unfairness of this sexist approach? Don't men deserve their "wellness issues" taken just as seriously as women's?
