'200 million dollars for condoms' --read what it was really about

[spanone]

totally misrepresented by the republics with the help of the ever helping corporate right wing media


The Medicaid Family Planning State Option

Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) expressed disappointment that a measure to invest in health care and allow states to expand health care access to more women was removed from the economic stimulus.
“We are disappointed that the Medicaid Family Planning State Option, a commonsense provision to expand basic health care to millions of women, including many who have lost their jobs in the current economic downturn, was a victim of misleading attacks and partisan politics, and dropped from the economic stimulus bill,” said PPFA President Cecile Richards.

As ThinkProgress points out, “… conservatives are distorting and simplifying the facts…. this measure would not only aid states, but also provide preventative, cost-saving health care to help low-income women support their families and keep working.”

The Medicaid Family Planning State Option would simply allow states to expand their Medicaid family planning services, including cancer screenings and other preventive care, to more women in need, without having to go through the burdensome Medicaid waiver process. Despite the proven success of Medicaid family planning expansions, the cumbersome waiver application and renewal process delay implementation and waste state resources.

http://www.plannedparenthood.org/newsroom/press-releases/medicaid-family-planning-provision-expands-health-care-women-23642.htm

[hedgehog]

1. Perhaps MSNBC needs to see this story!

[spanone]

2. i heard the 200 million so much, i wondered what was really happening

this just shows how the media has not challenged the republic talking lies

[hedgehog]

3. When the parent company has slashed the number of reporters to

save money, partisan handouts are used to fill air time and printed pages.

[Ocracoker16]

4. An assault on poor women who need healthcare

I am very angry that the Republicans misrepresented this part of the stimulus bill as being money for condems. Family planning was part of this section of the bill. However, the overarching principle was basic health care for women who can't afford it. They normally would have the option of applying for a Medicaid waiver. The catch is that they would have to spend time they don't have filling out really long applications. Then, they would have to wait for a long time to find out if they were approved.

Women should not have to wait that long for any medical services. Why do they have to put off an annual exam or a pap smear until they go through all the red tape and are finally approved. What if someone was doing a breast self exam and found a lump, but didn't have access to medical care. If they waited until their waiver was processed, they could worsen their situation. No woman should have to live in fear cancer, because they hadn't heard anything from Medicaid yet.