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Fuckin' insurance.
There, I said it.
I have some of the best insurance around. Everything is covered. Even massages (I know!). The dentist is cheap, they cover my eyeglasses and mental health counseling is even free! My company really believes in taking care of people. There is a woman in my office who, with complications, had a baby for only $40 out of pocket. $40 beans, people! She had to pay the copay to see the doctor to diagnose her pregnancy and then another $20 to see a specialist to diagnose her complications. Even delivery was covered by our provider. Holy hell, that's nice.
Not everyone is this lucky. I know cause this is the first job I've had that has insurance and really takes care of you. I know I've got it good.
I thought I saw no wrong until I went to the doc today. Regular checky-check. Nothing to write home about. I even got some great no-baby solutions from the lady-doc that would be long-term and relatively hormone free (me thinks me found a winner!). She suggested I see if insurance covered it before scheduling the implementation of this solution.
Mother F-balls, IUDs cost $1,000 and aren't covered by my insurance. And that's just the cost of the product, not including the in-office procedure. Ironically, the office visit is covered. I can go see the doc, but she can't DO anything.
Now, I'm not mother (and I plan not to be for a long time, if ever), but I know that having a baby costs a ton of money. Just being pregnant costs money with ultrasounds, vitamins, doc visits, etc. Then you have to actually have the thing which translates to some hospital time (or birthing center time.... or birthing tub with herbal incense and waterfall music time) and then re-translates to: MONEY. Thousands of dollars. And that's just if everything goes well! And that's also just what people pay out of pocket who even have insurance... let's just imagine what the insurance company is paying for someone to have a baby on their plan. Hell, some women can't get insurance once their pregnant because it's too much of a money-suck on the insurance. (So messed up. Deep breaths into a paper bag.)
Tell me if this is messed up: I can get a massage discounted at 80% on my insurance but I cannot help save the provider money and my employer time and money (hello maternity leave!) by getting a break on contraceptives? Messed up?
I can tell you that my company would not be happy to deal with my potential long-term leave right now. Not that I'm invaluable, but that our team has had a lot of shifts lately (resignations, new-hires, new initiatives that I am managing) and my boss has flat-out said that the only thing that could ruin his day (after my cohort resigned) was if I came to him and told him I was pregnant.
Moral of this story - if birth control were covered by insurance, if my provider and I could split the difference of this IUD, if the mother-f-ing Catholic church would stop suing over contraception then maybe the US would have fewer unplanned pregnancies, fewer unfit or unprepared mothers or fewer families incurring financial, emotional and physical strain! And let's not forget that the buck doesn't stop with those strained families; it passes right on through (like a corn nugget in a turd) to the communities and ultimately the taxpayers (cough - that's you!).
After all, the legislation isn't staying that you have to use contraception, it's just saying that you have the right to have access to it like you would any other medication. Now, I don't know if IUDs would be covered in Obamacare, but the whole ordeal did get me thinking about medication, women's rights and what is holding back healthcare.
What do you think? Am I missing something crucial here that makes this all make sense?
Disclaimer: I love Jesus. I love families. I love America. I stand by Planned Parenthood, the God that created liberty and the country that allows for it. Now, let's come together!
