Good news on the reproductive health -- really, the basic and essential health -- front. The Associated Press reports today:
Millions of women may soon gain free access to a broad menu of birth control methods, thanks to a recommendation issued Tuesday by health experts advising the government.
An Institute of Medicine panel recommended that the government require health insurance companies to cover birth control for women as a preventive service, without copayments. Contraception -- along with such care as diabetes tests during pregnancy and screening for the virus that causes cervical cancer -- was one of eight recommended preventive services for women.
President Barack Obama's health care law already requires most health plans to provide standard preventive care for people of both sexes at no additional charge to patients. The women's health recommendations were considered so sensitive that the nonpartisan institute was asked to examine the issue and report back. IOM advises the government on complex issues related to medical science and health care policy.
A half century after the introduction of the birth control pill, the IOM recommendations may help to usher in another revolution. Medical experts say easier access could start a shift to more reliable forms of long-acting birth control, such as implants or IUDs, which are gaining acceptance in other economically developed countries.
Now it's the Department of Health and Human Services and Secretary Kathleen Sebelius' turn to finalize binding regulations that follow the above recommendations in full.
Of course, we'll see how right-wingers spin this development. No doubt we'll get some unfounded complaints from social conservatives about how the above recommendations amount to excessive government intrusion -- and blah, blah, blah. But the point is this: the universal demand for truly meaningful birth control coverage is absolutely clear. According to the Guttmacher Institute, among all women who have had sex, 99% have used a contraceptive method other than natural family planning (a figure that is almost identical for Catholic women -- who are at 98%). If right-wingers want to dismiss the Institute of Medicine's sensible recommendations about contraceptive access, they'll only be proving more that they're out of touch with what quality health care and health care coverage really entail for all Americans.