Just got a letter from my insurer saying as of aug. 1 my birth control will be free.
Dear Member, As part of Health Care Reform, effective August 1, 2012, there will be a number of contraceptives availab le to you for $0 cost share. Please see the list on the bck of this letter to find a current listing of the contrceptives available to you for a $0 cost share.
Right now I have employer-paid health insurance (I only pay 50 bucks a month toward the total). I took a job that I might not have taken except for the benefits, because I was being basically priced out of the health insurance market... insurance which I had carried solo as a freelancer for more than 15 years.
It went something like this: every two years, then every year, then twice a year, if I'd had a five-year birthday, Unicare would jack up the monthly premiums, and I'd raise the deductible just to continue to be able to pay it. But then, a few years ago, Unicare decided they weren't making enough raw profit for their ceos in Illinois and abruptly pulled out. We were turned over, en mass, to blue cross, which, by way of welcome, told me that i was at their maximum deductible (5k) and had nowhere else to go. Plus, they were raising my premiums 100 bucks a month, and, by the way, i no longer had prescription drug coverage.
Now, i have endometriosis...went under the knife in the late '90s to hose it all out and was told then I would have to be on "the pill" for the rest of my life. So suddenly, I was paying more for my now "junk" insurance, and on top of that was paying 30+ bucks a month for the pill...(another 360+ a year) with no place left to go but up, premium wise, while my meager freelance income continued to freefall.
Coming now at a time when i have new insurance means only and extra 10 bucks or so in my pocket each month...but i know for many whose prescription coverage was gutted by shitty insurers, it's gonna be an extra 300-400 bucks year. (the same amount as the Bush tax refunds, byw). I can't help but think of all the women that will get this letter... some of whom have only heard horror stories about evil, socialist obamacare -- then they'll get this and realize they have a little bit more breathing room every month.
I know the birth control thing (especially the emergency contraception) will rev up the fundies...but this is also real money in the pockets of real women, many of whom really need it. I can't help but hope it that amid the crazy rightwing scream machine firestorm..this might still win a few quiet converts.
Poll 22 votes Show Results What will you do with your FREE birth controL? Have TONS of indiscriminate sex with everyone except Rush. Hold it between my knees and say 27 Hail Marys and two dozen Our Fathers. Take that 30 bucks a month and send it to ActBlue. 22 votes Vote Now! What will you do with your FREE birth controL? Have TONS of indiscriminate sex with everyone except Rush. 50% 11 votes Hold it between my knees and say 27 Hail Marys and two dozen Our Fathers. 5 5% 1 vote Take that 30 bucks a month and send it to ActBlue. 45% 10 votes
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