The compromise announced Friday by the Obama administration on birth control as part of health care seems reasonable to me (point of clarity, I am Catholic), but in this political season, reason doesn’t seem to be a top priority. Before the change, of course, I had a thought. First, did you know it costs a health care provider far less to offer birth control than it does to provide care in the case of unwanted pregnancies and some of the unintended health consequences? Far less, actually. So why can’t a Catholic institution offer a base plan that does not include birth control, but the employee does have the option of personally contacting the insurance provider to have it added. It is then up to the insurance provider to decide if adding the option of birth control changes the employee’s contribution to the health care plan.
And I have a question. Let’s say John, an employee of a Catholic college, in consultation with his wife Mary and their family doctor, concludes that it would be in the best interest of their family and Mary’s long term health that they have no more children. John decides to put the “burden” on his shoulders and gets the old snip-snip operation. Is that covered, at least in part, by the college’s health care plan?
