The contraceptive mandate, HHS, Catholic organizations and the lack of common sense

A battle rages between Catholic agencies and organizations and the Department of HHS over regulations classifying contraceptives as preventive services and requiring their cost to be 100 percent covered by health insurance and benefit plans beginning next August. Religious organizations say that HHS’s limited exception from the rules will not allow them to avoid the required coverage and still employ or provide services to non-Catholics.

While this may appear to be a religious issue, it is actually a common sense issue. As I have repeatedly said (and I do mean repeatedly) health insurance should stick to providing coverage for the unanticipated risk of costs associated with getting sick or becoming injured. Frankly I don’t care if someone wants to use a contraceptive of any kind; that’s their business, not mine. However, it should also be their expense, not mine or yours.

Adding contraceptives to coverage increases premiums for everyone, that is just a fact. How much matters little because each new mandate adds to premiums which we all decry as being too high.  Contraceptives do not treat or even prevent illness, (pregnancy is not an illness) they are not an unanticipated insurable risk. They are not unaffordable, a months supply can be obtained for about the cost of two packs of cigarettes, or a night at the movies for a couple, or a good (even mediocre) bottle of wine and for less than a monthly cell phone contract.

We continue to be unable to break the psychological block we have between money spent on health care and just about anything else. We do not want health insurance, we want total cost and responsibility insulation. Because of that the problem of health care costs will never be resolved.

Related articles

• Notre Dame joins outcry against HHS contraception mandate (catholicnewsagency.com)
• Catholic Colleges Unite to Defend Religious Liberty, Oppose Illegal Contraceptive Mandate (cardinalnewmansociety.org)