Last week, Montana's attorney general, Mike McGrath, issued an opinion stating that health insurers in the state who cover prescriptions must also cover prescription birth control. It's a common-sense decision, in my book, since *not* covering contraception is somewhat akin to tacking an extra $600-$1000 deductible on women's healthcare, and it's something I've argued for for quite some time. I don't know how my own health insurance plan will handle the decision--unlike most Montanans, I don't have Blue Cross--but I'll be glad if I can start putting that $40 a month toward our ginormous deductible.
But not everyone is glad. In specific, there's a Mr. Sherlock in Bozeman, Montana who is pretty pissed off. Mr. Sherlock seems to live in a different world from the rest of us, one giddy with healthcare choice and opportunity. On Saturday he wrote in a letter to the Chronicle (the full text is sadly unavailable online) that "if a person desires contraceptives coverage, wouldn’t she simply choose a policy that offered it?"
I'll get right on that, Mr. Sherlock. It's such a simple idea that I can't imagine why it didn't occur to me before. Oh, that's right...because I didn't get any kind of choice of plans! Everything was chosen for me by the friendly and helpful HR folks at my husband's company. You see, Mr. Sherlock lives in a world where people don't just thank their lucky stars that the company offers ANY healthcare coverage at all but also get to actually choose levels of coverage. I've heard of this in legend and story, but I've never seen it in real life.
Mr. Sherlock also complains that the attorney general is discriminating against him by issuing this decision: "...Isn’t requiring men to purchase policies that contain prescription coverage for contraceptives, or maternity coverage, or mammograms, in itself discriminatory?"
In other words, those damn women with their boobs and coochies and wombs are really doing a number on my beautiful healthcare plan!
And yet, I must pay for men's healthcare costs with my plans as well. Men have higher rates of heart disease and are less likely to seek preventative care. I can't opt out of sharing that burden. What's more, I pay into a system that would treat prostate cancer. I don't even *have* a prostate. Talk about discrimination. And don't even get me started on Viagra...