Tag: Medicare and Medicaid

Vetoing Investments in Care Work, Republicans Again Fail to Pay and Respect Women

Just when women of all ages were feeling kicked in the teeth, Senate Republicans (84 percent of them men) actively lobbied against including investment in caregivers or care recipients in the new congressional spending bill.

The whole point of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 was to help families deal with rising costs. Evidently, Republicans forgot that one of the most worrisome financial stressors in nearly every American family is care services: childcare, care for those with disabilities, elder care.

Guaranteed Income Is a Blueprint for a Better Social Safety Net: ‘Give People Money—Not Vouchers, Not Subsidies’

Many programs also have strict requirements that—by design—prevent low-income people from accessing the benefits they deserve. Traditional welfare policies are often paternalistic and controlling, requiring low-income women to use benefits in specific ways, or forcing them into situations that don’t work well for their family’s needs. 

A federal guaranteed income program is an opportunity to design a social safety net that takes social and historical context into account, empowers low-income parents and ends cycles of poverty.

ICYMI: ‘Everything You Need to Know About Birth Control’ with Dr. Sophia Yen

In this time of crisis, Dr. Sophia Yen says it’s essential we take charge of our own reproductive health. Yen is the CEO and co-founder of Pandia Health, the only doctor-led and women-founded and -led birth control delivery company. She is a board-certified physician with a focus in adolescent medicine, and serves as a clinical associate professor at Stanford Medical School in the Department of Pediatrics.

In a Ms. webinar on Tuesday, “Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Birth Control,” Yen broke down the best forms of birth control and emergency contraception, why you should consider skipping your period, how to get abortion pills (even if you live in a state with a ban), and more.

The Inflation Reduction Act Is a Much-Needed Win for Women

The Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law on Tuesday by President Biden, will benefit women for years to come.

The new law will limit the amount Medicare recipients have to pay out of pocket for drugs to $2,000 annually—a major benefit for older women, because they’re the majority of older Americans. The bill also empowers the Health and Human Services Secretary to negotiate prices for drugs covered under Medicare, and punish pharmaceutical companies that don’t play by the rules. Younger women below Medicare age will also benefit from other provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act, like subsidies that cover medical insurance premiums.

War on Women Report: Indiana AG Goes After Dr. Caitlin Bernard, ‘Paints Providers With Violent Lies’; Pro-Abortion House Democrats Arrested

U.S. patriarchal authoritarianism is on the rise, and democracy is on the decline. But day after day, we stay vigilant in our goals to dismantle patriarchy at every turn. The fight is far from over. We are watching, and we refuse to go back.

This week: State lawmakers come for abortion providers; Texas sues the Biden administration over HHS guidance; more than a dozen House Democrats get arrested at an abortion rights rally; The House passes landmark legislation; and more.

The Overturn of Roe Could Mean the End of Fertility Medicine

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Without the protections of Roe, we stand to see gross inequalities in fertility care and reproductive decision-making.

State laws defining ‘life’ as the moment an egg is fertilized will limit or prohibit the freezing or discarding of embryos—a process fundamental to successful fertility treatments. These practices could all but vanish in some places. These restrictions emerge at a moment where fertility technology is becoming ever more precise. Combined with existing anti-poor fertility policies, the reality is that poor women of color will have even less opportunity to determine the time and circumstance in which they decide to have a family.

Pennsylvania Republicans Pave the Way for Banning Abortion With ‘Shameful, Undemocratic’ Tactics

The measure, which would require a second round of legislative approval, is the first step to enable a ballot question on a constitutional amendment that would declare that the Pennsylvania Constitution does not protect the right to abortion nor any right to public funding for abortion.

“Anti-abortion legislators in the Pennsylvania Senate … are using the constitutional amendment process to bypass the governor and they are legislating in the middle of the night to avoid your scrutiny as they erode your rights,” said PPPA executive director Signe Espinoza. “It’s shameful, undemocratic and wrong.”

The Supreme Court Clearly Doesn’t Care About Women’s Lives

If we pay attention to those whose lives have already been destroyed by an inability to access abortion, we can see our collective future and the depths the challenges to come. Centering the voices of those who have struggled to get care—even as we recognize the implications of Dobbs on everyone—allows us to predict at least three immediate consequences of last week’s decision.