What We're Reading - July 9
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Good morning, everyone! As the scorching temperatures begin to subside, attacks on women’s health have not and the Republicans are set to vote on a repeal of the new health care law. Here’s what we’re reading about this morning…
Indiana’s attempt to eliminate funding for Planned Parenthood is blocked. Again. “Medicaid official says Ind. law denying funding to Planned Parenthood violates women’s rights” – “INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana’s decision to deny Planned Parenthood Medicaid funds because it performs abortions denies women the freedom to choose their health care providers, a federal hearing officer said. The state had asked the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in Chicago to reconsider its June 2011 ruling that found changes in Indiana’s Medicaid plan unacceptable. But a hearing officer recommended in documents released Friday that a CMS administrator uphold the agency’s initial decision. The changes to Indiana’s plan resulted from a 2011 law that would have made the state the first to deny the organization Medicaid funds for general health services, including cancer screenings. The law has been on hold while the dispute works its way through the courts. The Indiana attorney general’s office, which already is appealing a federal judge’s order blocking the law, said it may also contest the panel’s recommendation. The state had argued that the dispute should be decided administratively by the CMS, not in court. ‘Because this is a recommendation, the Attorney General’s Office has a chance to file an exception to it before the CMS administrator makes a final decision,’ the agency said in a statement.”
Governor Rick Perry is at it again, refusing to comply with Obamacare and denying thousands access to affordable health care. “Perry: TX Won't Implement Key Elements of Health Reform” – “Texas will not expand Medicaid or establish a health insurance exchange, two major tenets of the federal health reform that the U.S. Supreme Court upheld last month, Gov. Rick Perry said in an early morning announcement. ‘I stand proudly with the growing chorus of governors who reject the Obamacare power grab,’ he said in a statement. ‘Neither a “state” exchange nor the expansion of Medicaid under this program would result in better “patient protection” or in more “affordable care.” They would only make Texas a mere appendage of the federal government when it comes to health care.’ Perry's office said he's sending a letter to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius this morning asserting his opposition, both to accepting more than a hundred million federal dollars to put more poor Texas adults onto Medicaid, and to creating an Orbitz-style online insurance marketplace for consumers.”
Melinda Gates pushes for better access to birth control for the over 200 million women around the world. “Melinda Gates slams religious groups for criticising bid to bring birth control to developing world” – “Campaigners says religious groups who want to thwart a drive to bring contraception to the developing world are carrying out a 'war on women'. Melinda Gates, wife of Microsoft founder Bill, is spearheading a mission to bring birth control methods to countries where it is lacking. Ahead of a conference on family planning being held in London this week, Gates, a practising Catholic, has been targeted by religious groups who have called her campaign a 'blatant attack on morality'. The conference which is co-hosted by the Department for International Development (Dfid) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation aims to raise money and awareness to bring contraception to millions in the developing world. In response to the religious backlash Gates said the lack of birth control available to 210 million people in the world was 'a crime'. In an interview with CNN she said 'We made birth control and contraceptives way too political in the U.S. I think if people understood that 200million [sic] women want this around the world they would start to say ‘OK that makes sense.’”
