Sore Spots & G-Spots

Sore spots

Vaccination requirements for immigrant women remain unfair and controversial. Women between age 9-26 are required to receive Gardasil, the HPV vaccine, as a mandatory requirement for citizenship. The 1996 Immigration and Naturalization Act requires, as a condition of citizenship, that all new citizens receive specified vaccines, including those listed by the CDC’s Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices. Gardasil, added to the list in 2008, is the only required vaccine that doesn’t treat a highly contagious and/or infectious disease, like the measles.

Health care reform has caused insurance companies to sink to new lows. Humana, one of the largest providers of Medicare Advantage plans, is being investigated by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for contract violations. Humana mailed false and misleading letters describing the impending doom of Medicare and Medicaid plans, and specifically requested its beneficiaries to contact their lawmakers and urge them to oppose health care reform. Humana only has access to these beneficiaries because of its CMS contract, which accounts for almost 50% of its profits.

Oklahoma is at it again. A new state law, set to go into effect on November 1, would require the State Department of Health to collect and post on-line detailed data about every abortion performed in the state. Although this data will not include women’s names and addresses, figuring out women’s identities won’t be hard, particularly for those who live in small towns. Clearly, the law’s purpose is to intimidate women and prevent them from having an abortion. A lawsuit has been filed to prevent the law’s implementation.

G-Spots

There’s a bit of good news for pregnant women in the health care reform debate. The Senate Finance Committee’s bill and all three House of Representative’s health reform bills would reinstate Medicaid coverage for maternity care delivered in free-standing birth centers. Medicaid pays for almost 40% of deliveries in the U.S. so, when the Bush Administration cut off Federal funding to these centers, it had a detrimental effect. We are very pleased that legislators listened to women’s needs and plan to restore access to these centers.

The female condom has reinvented itself. In October, the second generation FC2 Female Condom became available for purchase in the U.S. after being approved by the FDA in March. According to NWHN interns, the new version is “cooler and sexier” than the original. It’s also 30% cheaper. We’re happy to have a new choice that prevents both pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, and also allows women to control their reproductive health. The Female Health Company, the FC2 manufacturer, is also giving free condoms to reproductive health organizations working in the states hardest hit by the AIDS epidemic.

Groups representing communities of color are mobilizing to make their voices heard in the health care debate. They are using voter-turnout operations and joint advertising campaigns to get their supporters to pressure members of Congress to pass meaningful health care reform. Rates of un-insurance are very high for people of color: 31% of Hispanics, 19% of African-Americans, and 17% of Asians lack insurance (compared to just 11% of Whites). Worse, 880,000 people of color died in the last decade from illnesses that could have been prevented by early, effective medical care. Health care reform is the difference between life and death.