Now that men and women pay equally for healthcare, shouldn’t men receive equal coverage when it comes to fully covered services? Shouldn’t there finally be a government health office dealing with men’s health? Men and women should sign this petition no matter if they agree with the Affordable Care Act or not. The Act is sexist and needs to be made unbiased should it remain in existence in its present state.
On August 1, 2012 many more health care services became available to women without co-pays, deductibles, or out-of-pocket expenses. While this can be seen as a victory for women’s health, there are many services that affect men in equal or similar ways that still require men to be able to afford those cost-sharing requirements. Why should all women receive these services (such as well-care visits) “free” while men still will be denied those services if they can not afford to pay for them? The Affordable Care Act will undoubtedly expand the gender life-expectancy gap even further due to men being denied these well-care visits. Blacks and Hispanic males will be hit hardest as studies have shown them to be less likely to afford those out-of-pocket expenses.
These are our fathers, our brothers and our sons that perhaps will be forced to go without those well-care visits to determine important screenings and services. It’s great to have our mothers, sisters and daughters to not have to be concerned with financial obligations to receive those services. This act should not force some men to be denied those preventive care services just because of financial inability. It’s time to rectify the imbalance and make this bill adhere to gender equality.
A look at what preventive services are deemed sexist can be found in the US Dept. of Health and Human Services list of such services and to whom they apply:
http://www.healthcare.gov/news/factsheets/2010/07/preventive-services-list.html#CoveredPreventiveServicesforAdults
We ask President Obama to correct the following biased aspects of the Affordable Care Act:
FACT#1
WOMEN ARE PROVIDED WELL-CARE VISITS WITHOUT DEDUCTIBLES, CO-PAYS OR OUT-OF-POCKET COSTS IN ORDER TO OBTAIN RECOMMENDED PREVENTIVE SERVICES. MEN WILL BE DENIED THESE WELL-CARE VISITS UNLESS THEY CAN COME UP WITH THE REQUIRED EXTRA FUNDS. This will mean that many men will not go for well-care visits due to lack of affordability. This will lead to many men not being diagnosed until a disease has become more expensive to treat or until it is too late for treatment altogether. This will cost lives and add to the already burdensome cost of The Affordable Care Act.
FACT#2
BREAST CANCER SCREENINGS ARE FULLY COVERED WITHOUT DEDUCTIBLES, CO-PAYS OR OUT-OF-POCKET COSTS. PROSTATE CANCER SCREENINGS REQUIRE MEN TO FIND A WAY TO PAY THOSE EXTRA COSTS OR BE DENIED PREVENTIVE CARE. Prostate cancer affects 1 in 6 men and kills roughly 28,000 annually. Breast cancer affects 1 in 9 women and kills roughly 39,000 annually. Should this Act continue, no one should be turned away from these preventive cancer screenings.
Read more and sign the petition at https://www.change.org/petitions/the-president-of-the-united-states-stop-sexism-in-the-affordable-care-act
What’s wrong with equitable treatment in healthcare? Nothing.
Men and women deserve equitable treatment in healthcare that respects their respective differences and needs. Right? Right.
If you agree please sign the petition. It can help achieve equitable treatment in healthcare.
Healthcare, Healthcare, Healthcare
Thank you Mr. Goldman. Nice job.
Thank you for your support Ray. I would love to see everyone sign it. Even if it ends up not changing things, the more that sign and share, the more our word gets out. It goes to the President and Congressmen and Senators. Also Surgeon General and Valerie Jarrett- Obama’s senior adviser and the one in charge of the women and girls council.
And Mark, you are right, children suffer when their fathers are turned away from the same medical care their mothers get for “free”. Just as they would be turned away if they sought refuge with their kids from an abusive mother/wife. The act has an entire chapter dealing solely about breast cancer but not a word at all about prostate cancer.
Thank you to all who sign this petition. Please don’t let apathy rule.
I think it should be noted that, under this health care act, it is my understanding that children fare no better than men. VAWA in many states is much the same way. Women are deemed more deserving of care and protection than children. That demonstrates just how far overboard, and gynocentric things have become.
The big problem with Obamacare is NOT the 134 “static” discriminatory provisions of obamacare, corresponding to the 134 occurences of the word “women” in the law (compared to two occurences of the word “men”):
http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h3590/text
Each occurrence of the word “women” outlines privileges and programs that benefit women only.
While all of these are troubling, there are seven in particular that spell disaster for men, boys, and fathers:
1) Establishes the Office of Women’s Health within the Department of Health and Human Services.
2) “There is established within the Office of the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an office to be known as the Office of Women’s Health”.
3) “Establishing within the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration an Office of Women’s Health.”
4) “There is established within the Office of the Director, an Office of Women’s Health and Gender Based Research.”
5) “The Secretary shall establish within the Office of the Administration of the Health Resources and Services Administration, an office to be known as the Office on Women’s Health.”
6) Establishes the Office of Women’s Health in the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
7) Establishes the Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH) within the National Institutes of Health.
These are the seven institutes that advise the central authority in Obamacare, the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF). The USPSTF determines which health coverage insurance companies must offer free of charge (“A” recommendation), which treatments must be offered with a copayment (“B” recommendation), which treatments are optional (“C” recommendation), and which treatments are not covered (“D” recommendation).
The USPSTF has been busy doing its job, extending perks to women, and denying essential services to men. Some highlights:
1) Free birth control for women, but NOT for men.
2) Free tubal ligation for women, but NO vasectomy for men.
3) Free anti-cancer vaccination for girls, but NOT for boys.
4) Free smoking cessation for women, but NOT for men.
5) Free STD treatment for women, but NOT for men.
6) Breast health for women, but NO prostate health for men.
7) Violence prevention for women, but NOT for men.
Recently, the USPSTF noticed men for the first time. They changed the recommendation for PSA testing to detect prostate cancer in men from a “B” to a “D”, to save money. This effectively makes PSA insurance coverage unobtainable in the United States:
http://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/prostatecancerscreening.htm
Here is the graph from one of the papers quoted by the USPSTF. It compares survivors who are treated with those who are not:
http://i.imgur.com/zfHof.jpg
Here is the executive summary:
“This means that 1410 men would need to be screened … to prevent one death from prostate cancer.”
Read the whole article here:
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa0810084
A cost analysis showing that (1) the test costs $48 per person, (2) diagnosis and work up (treatment plan) costs $1059 per positive test, (3) average treatment costs $17,542 per patient, and (4) effective cost per life-year saved is $51,267:
Volume 46, Issue 2, August 1995, Urology, Pages 125–141 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0090429599801812
So now you know that, as a male, your life is worth $51,267 per year (under Obamacare). You can also compare this to the cost of Sandra Fluke’s “medical need” for contraception ($3000/year, according to Fluke). Obamacare is willing to sacrifice the life of one man, in order to pay for 17 women to liberate their inner “O”.
Sound fair?
I signed it.