The War for Women

Some qualified good news...

Earlier this month, the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine, an independent advisory panel of health experts, recommended that all new health plans should offer to female policy-holders, sans deductibles or co-pays, coverage of prescription birth control, voluntary sterilization, breast-pump rentals, counseling for domestic violence, STD testing, and annual wellness exams.

At the time, the US Department of Health and Human Services promised to review the panel's recommendations and issue new guidelines shortly.

Today, they have announced those new guidelines, which indeed do require "health insurance plans beginning on or after August 1, 2012 to cover several women's preventive services."

According to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius the decision is a part of the Affordable Care Act's move to stop problems before they start. "These historic guidelines are based on science and existing literature and will help ensure women get the preventive health benefits they need," she said in a news release.

...Besides contraceptive use, the list includes free screenings for conditions such as gestational diabetes and the human papillomavirus (HPV), as well as breastfeeding support and counseling on sexually transmitted diseases. The full list is available on the Department of Health and Human Services website.

You can go here to see the new guidelines.

Naturally, the American Family Values Children Christian Liberty Freedom Patriot Association Foundation Organization is pitching a fit, but the Obama administration "released an amendment to the prevention regulation that allows religious institutions offering health insurance to their employees the choice of whether or not to cover contraception services." With which, frankly, I disagree, but it does render the AFVCCLFPAFO's whining even more ludicrous than usual.

Anyway. I noted this was qualified good news: Note that these new guidelines only benefit women who are already insured.

In fact, technically, it only benefits insured women with new plans starting in August of next year. Presumably, those of us with existing plans will still be charged per our existing agreements, and, if you've got coverage via an employer, you'll have to wait until your employer changes plans or the contract renews before you can benefit from the new guidelines.

And of course women who are uninsured do not benefit from them at all.

Number of the Day

Zero: Massachusetts special education paraprofessional Kathy Meltsakos' take-home pay after benefits and taxes come out of her $10.74 an hour salary.

Initially earning $13.74 for a 35-hour week with the Pentucket schools, Meltsakos paid 20 percent of her insurance, which was manageable, and she did that for 10 years until laid off in June 2010. While looking for work she received unemployment benefits. She was later rehired at a lower pay rate, with five less hours, and with a higher contribution for her healthcare.

"I was placed at the bottom of the scale at $10.74 an hour for a 30-hour week. After taxes, I paid 60 percent of my medical insurance. My pay stubs from February to June 24 (the end of the school year) show no net take home pay since February. Oh – and the insurance rates went up in May."

By April she was frustrated with no take home pay and knew she had to get a second job. "My husband is doing everything he can but we have kids in college and of course the regular bills to pay. I tried a pizza shop, then found work with a discount store, twenty hours a week during school, and a few more now that school is out. They pay a little more per hour but no benefits." For the summer she landed a job with special ed kids for 20 hours a week at $14 an hour.

"I'm not the only ESP worker in the position of working two or three jobs to try to make ends meet," Meltsakos said. "We are not looking for a free ride. But we have to question a system that forces workers in any profession to stitch together several pay streams to make ends meet. ... We're taught from an early age not to talk a whole lot about earnings and comparing our salaries. It's not 'polite'. Well, we've had about thirty years of being polite about work and paychecks and look where that has got us."

[H/T to @Brunocerous.]

The War for Women

How about a little potential good news to start the day?

Virtually all health insurance plans could soon be required to offer female patients free coverage of prescription birth control, breast-pump rentals, counseling for domestic violence, and annual wellness exams and HIV tests as a result of recommendations released Tuesday by an independent advisory panel of health experts.

The health-care law adopted last year directed the Obama administration to draw up a list of preventive services for women that all new health plans must cover without deductibles or co-payments. While the guidelines suggested Tuesday by a committee of the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine are not binding, the panel conducted its year-long review at the request of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

In a statement, Sebelius praised the committee's work as "historic" and "based on science and existing literature."

"We are reviewing the report closely and will release the department's recommendations...very soon," she added.

There is no guarantee these recommendations will be adopted, and, naturally, the "pro-life" brigade is already throwing a shit-fit about the possibility because, despite whatever bullshit rationale they tack onto their protestations, they hate women having agency, choices, and autonomy. But, as Digby points out, this is a fight worth having, especially because "liberals will win it."

Think Progress has more.

Two Facts

[Trigger warning for sexual violence and war.]

1. One in 3 female members of the military are sexually assaulted during their service, making them more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire.

2. Via Christie Thompson: "A startling study released yesterday found that 80 to 90 percent of New Mexican women veterans with PTSD say the cause was sexual assault, not warfare."

In good news, due to a rule change by the Department of Veteran Affairs made last summer, it is now easier for servicemembers diagnosed with PTSD to get disability benefits.

Of course, that depends on getting an accurate diagnosis in the first place, which itself can be quite a challenge, to put it politely.

My Planned Parenthood: The Carnival Collection

As you might have noticed, ahem, today was the My Planned Parenthood Carnival, which I co-hosted with Tami of What Tami Said. The hub for the carnival, at which links to all the other participating blogs can be found, is here. There is so much good reading there!

And, naturally, submissions posted at own blogs are still being accepted.

Shakesville ran My Planned Parenthood Stories all day, too, of course, and here is the full collection, in case you missed any of them:

Angie: Planned Parenthood Saved My Life

Deeky: Today's Visit

Elizabeth in Chicago: A Simple Story

Liss: Like a Trusted Friend

K: Forever Grateful

Portly Dyke: The Radical Notion of Choosing Parenthood

Sonia: Thank You

Lili: I Can Trust Planned Parenthood

Vanshar: About the Menz

koach: For My Sister

Fannie: Healthier

Tenya: I Turned to Planned Parenthood

Teaspoon: Planned Parenthood Was There

Talonas (Lt. Chubbins): Better Parents

Gretchen in Washington: My Life's Backdrop

Mustang Bobby: A Part of My Life for Fifty Years

M: Planned Parenthood Saved My Daughter

My profound thanks to Tami, who is just a total rock star, to everyone who participated, and to everyone who sent private notes of thanks, encouragement, and support.

This isn't an end; this is just a beginning. There were be more carnivals to come—and I hope that they get increasingly bigger, louder, wilder, until we are making such a grand cacophony of clattering teaspoons that we can no longer be ignored.

My teaspoon. My voice. My choice. My Planned Parenthood.