I just read a column by Kim Gandy, the president of the National Organization for Women. Here's an excerpt that I think is very relevant to what we're discussing here....
"A key component of McCain's plan is that he wants to give people the option of buying health care across state lines. Yet this can undermine existing state insurance requirements - many of which women fought to win - like state laws requiring insurers to cover contraceptives and mammograms and preventing outrageous limits on hospital stays (like the 24-hour "drive-by mastectomies" for breast cancer). Under McCain's plan, insurance companies will just set up shop in states with the weakest consumer protection and coverage laws, so in the end insurance companies make even money while our hard-won coverage rights are lost.
The kind of coverage, not just the fact of coverage, is also critical for women, particularly in the area of reproductive coverage. Comprehensive health care should recognize that reproductive health care is primary care for women, and the Obama plan is the only one to guarantee affordable coverage for maternity care, reproductive care, cancer screening, mental health care and much more -- the kinds of gaps in current insurance coverage that impact women disproportionately.
There are no easy answers for reforming our health care, but Obama's plan takes many steps in the right direction, while McCain's plan takes us backward, virtually guaranteeing less coverage for fewer people. Neither offers a full cure for what ails us, but McCain's plan isn't even a Band-Aid, while Obama's is at least a shot in the arm."
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I just read a column by Kim Gandy, the president of the National Organization for Women. Here's an excerpt that I think is very relevant to what we're discussing here....
"A key component of McCain's plan is that he wants to give people the option of buying health care across state lines. Yet this can undermine existing state insurance requirements - many of which women fought to win - like state laws requiring insurers to cover contraceptives and mammograms and preventing outrageous limits on hospital stays (like the 24-hour "drive-by mastectomies" for breast cancer). Under McCain's plan, insurance companies will just set up shop in states with the weakest consumer protection and coverage laws, so in the end insurance companies make even money while our hard-won coverage rights are lost.
The kind of coverage, not just the fact of coverage, is also critical for women, particularly in the area of reproductive coverage. Comprehensive health care should recognize that reproductive health care is primary care for women, and the Obama plan is the only one to guarantee affordable coverage for maternity care, reproductive care, cancer screening, mental health care and much more -- the kinds of gaps in current insurance coverage that impact women disproportionately.
There are no easy answers for reforming our health care, but Obama's plan takes many steps in the right direction, while McCain's plan takes us backward, virtually guaranteeing less coverage for fewer people. Neither offers a full cure for what ails us, but McCain's plan isn't even a Band-Aid, while Obama's is at least a shot in the arm."
http://www.now.org/news/note/101708.html
October 17, 2008 - 9:51pmThis Comment
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