Friday, February 17, 2012

Please Help Me Understand...

I find it hard to understand how an individual's [or individual corporation's] freedom to choose an insurance policy that either covers or doesn't cover certain specific services has to be eliminated.
No, I don't support bans on contraception, or even abortion.
No, I believe that any company (and insurer, for that matter) that believes it's important to provide such coverage (to retain decent employees on the one hand, and to 'reduce overall health costs' on the other) should have the ability to do so, and I firmly believe that most companies would choose to do so in this day and age.
But isn't that what markets are for?

Further, the 'accommodation' is an even more unbelievable infringement on property rights. Let me get this straight -- because your customer is uncomfortable paying for some specific service, the government can compel you to provide it for free. Perhaps you can charge your customer for the convenience of not having to pay for this? Or will the government mandate that this comes out of "profit"? It's unbelievable how stupid this little shell game sounds.

Finally, I don't think that women have really thought through what this means for the future of contraception. There will literally be "no money in it". So the care you'll get is the cheapest care they can provide. I know nothing about the current state of the technology, and maybe there's nothing more that needs to be done, no improvements to be contemplated, no side effects to be eliminated, and it works equally well for everyone. Good luck, and hope you enjoy your stuff.
Yes, perhaps researchers worldwide will continue to invest in this area. But if the cost of bringing it to us is nonzero -- the FDA approval process hasn't boiled down to TurboTax -- then that giant sucking sound you hear is innovation leaving the room.