We have a pretty crazy system whereby employers are in charge of selecting/paying your medical insurance. My employer offers Aetna. I had nothing to do with that choice, but I understand that they were able to bargain for a good rate, given their large number of employees. Of course the money paid to the insurer is deducted from my paycheck. So they are not really “paying”. I am.
We also understand as individuals that, in general, when you cede control over any aspect of your life, the entity that has the control (employer in this case) may want to make decisions for you! That is why the system is “crazy”! And not replicated in any other western democracy that I know of.
So where is this leading? Contraceptives: should they be covered or not. There are 2 pending supreme court cases. The first one deals with a Florida based private business called “Hobby Lobby”. Here is an excellent discussion of the issue by Rick Lowery (a writer, a minister and a bible scholar), which I highly recommend as a ‘must read’. It is actually highly relevant to all of us, regardless of whether we buy contraceptives or not! For the guys out there, I would remind everyone that when you get prostate cancer, there are countless women that have paid insurance fees that help support coverage of your prostate problem (even though as far as I know they don’t have a prostate and don’t particularly need that kind of coverage for themselves). That is just the way insurance works.
If you want to learn about “Hobby Lobby” click here.