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{"id":4154,"date":"2016-03-22T10:20:07","date_gmt":"2016-03-22T16:20:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?p=4154"},"modified":"2016-03-22T10:26:52","modified_gmt":"2016-03-22T16:26:52","slug":"more-on-the-contraceptive-mandate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2016\/03\/more-on-the-contraceptive-mandate.html","title":{"rendered":"More on the (contraceptive) mandate"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

While I wait for a report to process. . .<\/p>\n

It seems to me that it\u2019d be worthwhile for me to write up something more comprehensive on the contraceptive mandate, the Little Sisters\u2019 objection, and how health insurance, in general, fits into this. \u00a0But right now I have to work, y\u2019know.<\/p>\n

So here are two quick links from 2014, when this first became an issue, on the rationale behind the mandate:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe \u201cWar on Women\u201d has gotten out of hand<\/a>\u201d and<\/p>\n

\u201c Reading the Institute of Medicine<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fundamentally,\u00a0the contraception mandate was quite different than the various other components of the set of \u201cpreventive services\u201d that employers were required to provide for their employees. \u00a0(Yes, employers are required to provide health \u201cinsurance\u201d but the form of health insurance has been modified from true insurance to cover the risk of unexpected events to include predictable expenses as an add-on \u2014 as if GEICO included free oil changes in its car insurance \u2014 so that, with respect to these services, the effect is that the government has mandated that employers provide these to their employees. \u00a0In the case of self-insured plans, where the employer simply pays the cost of its employees healthcare, after reflecting cost-shares, the requirement is even more direct.)<\/p>\n

The objective of the mandate seemed to be, from my reading, to move women onto IUDs and other long-lasting, ultra-effective contraceptives. \u00a0The rationale was, in part, that babies born of unplanned pregnancies, have a greater risk of poor health \u2014 that is, the mother is less likely to quit smoking or drinking, for instance. \u00a0(Though it wasn\u2019t clear whether they had controlled for the other factors involved here.) \u00a0But there was a wider rationale, saving \u201csociety\u201d money through fewer births.<\/p>\n

For more detail on the Little Sisters\u2019 case itself, see this explainer from the National Review<\/a>, which covers all the key points.<\/p>\n

And now my report has finished processing.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"