Sisters: Don't let Congress gut your health coverage!

[Progressive4Life]

Source: Planned Parenthood email (2 May 2006)

We need your immediate action on a bill before the U.S. Senate that could end basic health insurance coverage you depend on — birth control, cancer screenings, maternity care, and more.

Women in every state will lose benefits. It sounds like a bad joke, but it couldn't be more serious. S. 1955 would allow insurance plans to ignore important state laws that protect patients, directly affecting more than 90 million Americans. Chances are you're one of them.

That's why I'm asking you to write to your senator today and demand that the federal government protect your health coverage.

You may have heard about this "Lose Your Benefits Bill" before, but now it has passed out of committee and the full Senate will vote on it. It's an insidious attempt by hardline senators to chip away at our basic rights. These lawmakers have tried before to restrict access to birth control and other health care you need. Their latest strategy? Force women to pay for these benefits out of pocket.

We've worked for decades to pass state laws that require insurance companies to cover birth control just like other medicines. This bill would trample those laws, but it doesn't stop there. Besides fair coverage for contraception, here are some of the other benefits that women could lose:

* cancer screenings
* mammograms
* maternity care
* the ability to go straight to your OB/GYN when you have a problem
* the ability to stay with the same doctor throughout a pregnancy
* infertility treatment
* osteoporosis screenings

And it's not just women who will be affected — the bill guts state protections for coverage for prostate cancer screenings, ambulatory surgery, emergency services, and more. To make matters worse, it will likely also increase the costs of health insurance for older and sicker people who need health insurance most.

Please take two minutes to speak out against this dangerous bill — the Senate could vote as early as this week.

Think of it as an investment — two minutes of activism now vs. hundreds or thousands of dollars in extra health costs for you and your family.

Sincerely,



Cecile Richards
President
Planned Parenthood Action Fund

P.S. Click here to see what women's health benefits you could lose in your state.