No one talks about sterilization

By Tom Quiner

I had boring, run-of-the-mill surgery a dozen days ago.

I carry a Health Savings Account (HSA) insurance plan. What that means is that I pay lower monthly premiums than most, but in exchange, I pay the first $5700 in medical bills out of my pocket.

I don’t have all of my bills in yet, but I went over costs before my surgery with the doctor’s office. When we factor in hospital, surgeon, and anesthesia, the whole thing will cost a little more than $7000.

I will pay $5700 of the tab out-of-pocket. However, $2500 of those monies are deductible.

I mention all of this in light of the HHS Mandate.

As you know if you’re regular reader of Quiner’s Diner, the HHS Mandate requires businesses/organizations to provide contraception, abortifacients, and sterilization in their insurance plans.

Religious groups protested, claiming the inclusion of these products and services in their health plans forced them to violate their religious conscience. In response, the Obama administration offered an “accommodation” for religious organizations that was met with derision.

The accommodation was narrow, limiting it to groups that only hired and served people of their faith, and that qualified as a church using a narrow definition of the tax code.

Catholic hospitals, universities, and charities, for example, are excluded from the accommodation. In other words, the government requires them to violate their religious conscience or begin paying daily fines in excess of $1 million per day.

Here’s where we’re at: ALL health plans, except for churches, have to cover “preventative services” WITHOUT copay. If anyone objects, whether if it is the woman receiving the coverage, the insurance company, or the employer, well, tough. You have no say in it.

The Obama administration has spoken.

The push back on the Obama administration was more than they expected. So the president decided to really insult our intelligence.

He said the HHS Mandate would force the insurance companies to provide these “preventative services” for FREE, and that the organizations themselves would not have to pay for them.

Do you ever wonder why the public is so cynical toward politicians?

Where do insurance companies get their money from?

Their customers, of course, and they include Catholic hospitals, universities, and charities.

The president is once again shamelessly manipulating the public with this kind of rhetoric, but that’s not the point of today’s blog post.

Sterilization is the point.

No one talks about sterilization.

For example, why should anyone be forced to cover surgical sterilization for women verses any other type of surgery?

What business is it of government?

None.

This should be a decision left to the insureds and their insurers. Who knows, some folks may want to purchase the coverage, others won’t. But if you do want to provide coverage for sterilization, rest assured that there is a price tag associated with it.

I heard a small town doctor talk last night. He is a general practitioner. In small towns, doctors do a lot, everything from delivering babies to repairing hernias to removing gall bladders.

I asked him how much surgical sterilization for women costs. Take a guess.

Try $7000 to $8000.

When you factor in hospital, doctor, and anesthesia, the whole thing costs about as much as my surgery. I promise you, no one is picking up the tab for my operation.

Yet Barack Obama tells us that the insurance companies will provide this kind of service for FREE.

Of course it’s all nonsense. Someone has to pay. The money must come from somewhere. There is no free lunch.

So, who will pay?

You.

In one way or another, you will pick up the tab in the form of higher premiums for every single optional sterilization.

Every single health insurance mandate increases the cost of health insurance coverage for everyone.

Suppose a million women want to take advantage of these “free” sterilizations included in the HHS Mandate. That’s going to cost somewhere between $7 to $8 billion. Where is the money going to come from?

You.

One way or another, you and I will be picking up the tab. And future surgeries will get more expensive for everyone. That means that my surgery that cost $7000 today might cost $10,000 tomorrow.

We can’t afford all this free stuff.