Comments on Childfree Clique: My Health Insurance is Anti-Childfree...How Bout Y...

My heart goes out to you. I'm so glad I don...

2010-05-26T08:54:14.939-07:00

My heart goes out to you. I'm so glad I don't have issues with birth control.

Wow, this post brings back memories. :( In my earl...

2009-11-28T16:29:27.051-07:00

Wow, this post brings back memories. :( In my early 20s I inquired about receiving a tubal ligation and was told--get this--that I would have to submit to some sort of psychological evaluation.

Soooooo, me looking at the pros & cons and deciding on a method of birth control that fit my needs resulted in me basically being labeled mentally suspect, while several of my peers who had 2-3 kids before the age of 20 (with no visible means of support I might add) are deemed perfectly normal. All I can say is WTF!

This is so infuriating! On the other hand I had s...

2009-10-14T02:27:45.335-07:00

This is so infuriating!

On the other hand I had such a bad experience with Mirena, it makes me shudder every time I hear about someone wanting to try it too. Wish it would have worked fine though :-/

Waitaminnit........they cover up to 90% of inferti...

2009-09-24T15:52:07.212-07:00

Waitaminnit........they cover up to 90% of infertility treatment costs, but not a simple, MUCH CHEAPER procedure such as Mirena inserts????!! Total bull-fuckin-shit. If that isn't a rally for the cause of DRINK-THE-KOOLAID-AND-POOP-OUT-A-CHYULD-YOU'RE-FUCKED-IF-YOU-WANT-TO-BE-CF, nothing else is! I'm fortunate that my Essure procedure was covered about 90% or so. I think I had to pay $130. Have you looked into Essure? If not, e-mail me and I will tell you all about it.

Hey babes, just thought I'd stop by and apolog...

2009-09-20T01:44:04.509-07:00

Hey babes, just thought I'd stop by and apologise for my rather controversial comment. It was only after I posted that I realised how it might spark debate and that wasn't my original intention.

I guess what I was getting at, was that I don't understand how the UK can be so loose with birth control and abortions and the US can be so strict with it.

Again, I apologise if my original comment was in anyway aggressive or inviting conflict or debate, as I said before that wasn't what I was trying to do with it.

Love the blog, keep writing and I'll think before I post next time. Thanks hun! Soulie x

Two months before we got married my husband gave m...

2009-09-15T18:13:12.012-07:00

Two months before we got married my husband gave me the best wedding gift and guess what it was…a “vasectomy”! He was 25 and insurance (Blue Cross) paid 80% of it. Cost to us was $98.40. So every time we are near a screaming child we look at each other and say, “98.40” then smile!

Hi it's poofy and I'm still spayed. Still...

2009-09-15T17:16:15.792-07:00

Hi it's poofy and I'm still spayed.

Still need to Freecycle my uterus though.

Going once, going twice?

Anyone? Bueller?

O well, maybe I'll have better luck with CraigsList.

Yippee-ki-yay motherfuckers.

I had my Mirena put in today. It took about 5 - 7 ...

2009-09-14T17:00:11.836-07:00

I had my Mirena put in today. It took about 5 - 7 minutes and, maybe because I took 4 ibuprofen about an hour before, was about as painful as a really long Pap smear. In other words, not very. Mileage undoubtedly varies person-to-person, though.

Insurance should cover birth control; it's fucking stupid that yours doesn't. Just another pathetic example of the continuing attempts to control women's sexuality by controlling their fertility.

Have you discussed this with your HR or Benefits r...

2009-09-14T09:46:03.889-07:00

Have you discussed this with your HR or Benefits representative? Usually, it's up to the employer to decide what services will or won't be covered when they contract with an insurance company. I work in HR, and I was completely appalled when I first started at my company 6 years ago and discovered birth control pills weren't covered. I bitched about it for three years to the HR Director, and eventually got the plan changed to include them. I'm not sure whether Mirena would be covered by our plan though, I'm going to check into it just out of curiosity.

IVF is definitely not covered though! I had an employee raise you-know-what with me over that, but I was pretty firm in telling him that we would not cover it under ANY circumstances.

Ginger

Hi, long-time lurker, first time poster. Do you h...

2009-09-11T14:55:58.953-07:00

Hi, long-time lurker, first time poster.

Do you have Kaiser available to you? I was able to get a tubal at age 32 with little fanfare.

And yes, the system is fucking backward!

In the UK getting sterilised can be pretty damn di...

2009-09-11T08:23:22.003-07:00

In the UK getting sterilised can be pretty damn difficult, especially if you're young, but the maze of birth control can be pretty difficult to navigate through and you're often at the mercy of whichever doctor you see. Most people are foisted onto the cheapest available pill (not that it's the cheapest to end user, we all pay the same amount for the prescription. That means that we're paying probably 5 times too much for something cheap, and 5 times too little for specialist drugs - all evens out I suppose!). If the pill doesn't work, they try to force you onto injections, then the patch, and then the implant. Getting your way, or rather what is right for you can be very difficult.

They tried to force me onto Mirena despite my protestations about bad reactions to hormones. I demanded, while in the operating theatre just before being put out, to see the box for the one I had requested to make sure that I was getting a non-hormonal coil. It's not always plain sailing even if all of our birth control is covered! Here at least, they're very much ruled by whichever is the cheapest option, and because our healthcare system is no longer run by clinicians, the cheapest treatments are chosen by laypeople.

In a recent discussion about IVF available on the NHS, (so I suppose this relates to health insurance too), someone wondered how long it would be until people were publically claiming that IVF was medically necessary on the NHS/health insurance because, if someone doesn't get that BABY (not child) that absolutely MUST be THEIR OWN, then they will end up committing suicide? Of course that will be the fault of the medical profession for not providing both the IVF and adequate mental health treatment. That kind of 'plea' has got to come soon, surely? Some [would-be] parents seem to stop at nothing in today's media to garner sympathy.

That is really unfortunate and not at all surprisi...

2009-09-11T06:20:27.508-07:00

That is really unfortunate and not at all surprisingly really. Although I was lucky, my insurance did cover my Mirena and I love it. 2 years + so far.

Back when hubby got snipped, we had Tufts health p...

2009-09-10T21:49:26.137-07:00

Back when hubby got snipped, we had Tufts health plan, and they paid for his snippage, no problem.

Shortly after said snippage, we got a letter from Tufts about changes in their coverage. One of the changes was NO MORE COVERAGE FOR STERILIZATION. That sucks big fat hairy smelly donkey balls. But at least hubby got his snip paid for.

YET...we live in Massachusetts, and it is REQUIRED BY FUCKING LAW that insurance pay for IVF. They don't have to pay for birth control or sterilization, but they have to pay for fucking IVF!

Apparently, they don't have to pay for anesthesiologists, either. Several years ago, hubby had a colonoscopy. The insurance we had at the time decided NOT to pay for the anesthesiologist. They eventually did, but only after he fought with them about it.

But, fucking hey, in MA, IVF is a FREE RIDE. WTF ever happened to stuff that is MEDICALLY NECESSARY being paid for?

If they are going to pay for IVF shit, they need to pay for birth control, sterilization, and anything that is MEDICALLY NECESSARY. Like getting knocked out for a colonoscopy.

This all sucks some serious ass.

At least they covered some of the cost. I once had...

2009-09-10T20:56:56.034-07:00

At least they covered some of the cost. I once had an insurance company refuse to pay anything toward my BC. I asked the rep, "So what you're telling me is that I can have 10 children and you will pay 100% for the care, birth and subsequent care for my little basketball team, but you will pay nothing to prevent them?"

I reasoned it would be cheaper in the long run. That having a baby could run the company several thousands not to mention the well-baby visits and everything else there after. The procedure I wanted only cost $500! It all still makes zero sense to me and needless to say, I no longer have that insurance and will never consider them again.

Say what you want about public healthcare, but at least they are willing to foot the bill for BC. They actually get it. They realize that it’s cheaper to prevent pregnancy than it is to take care of these welfare babies for the next 18 years.

Forgive me for my ignorance re: Mirena but could i...

2009-09-10T16:12:17.009-07:00

Forgive me for my ignorance re: Mirena but could it be because it's a new therapy or drug and thus considered experimental?
Just wondering as that's the only logical reason I can think of. Like I said, I have no knowledge of this type of treatment. I always just muddled along with the pill since it worked for me and I figured if it's not broke, don't fix it.
Of course I'm probably just being ridiculous thinking that there would be any sort of logic behind the policy. I mean, most insurance companies still don't cover acupuncture because it's experimental and/or unproven. Never mind the fact that the Chinese have been using it with success for thousands of years! Go figure!

Denise- That is infuriating but doesn't...

2009-09-10T10:26:09.461-07:00

Denise- That is infuriating but doesn't surprise me. Women pay more for insurance and health care in general, even when we have NO children.

Every insurance I have ever had charges more via co-pay for a standard gyno visit than a primary care visit because a gyno is considered a "specialist". Sorry but a gyno visit is not the same as an optional visit to some dermatologist. It is something every woman needs to do YEARLY to stay healthy. The co-pay should be no higher than when we visit a general practice physician.

Let's face it, the world hates women and has no regard for us period.

Mrs. Ogre- Who knows. All I can say is that they are shortsighted, biased bastards. You'd think since they are so concerend about "profits" and making big bucks off of people's health, they'd shell out the cash for BC rather than fucking IVF and all the costs associated with the babies that result from it.

But as usual, when it comes to women keeping their fertility at bay, traditional health care companies would rather sacrifice their precious profits than support a woman's choice not to have a baby.

Soulie- I hate to censor you but I'm not opening these comments up for further discussion on universal health care or how flawed a US system would or "could" be.

It truly sucks! I wonder if it's a pronatalist...

2009-09-10T04:16:59.368-07:00

It truly sucks! I wonder if it's a pronatalist company? Companies are trying to save money, but they're ready to shell out the cash to have more babies. You cannot not have those babies!

Mrs. Ogre

Yeah, I remember years ago when I worked in one of...

2009-09-10T03:16:02.380-07:00

Yeah, I remember years ago when I worked in one of the rare restaurants that offered health insurance to its employees: my premiums were higher than that of my male SMOKER co-worker because "I could become pregnant". Even though I did NOT (and DO not) plan to have children, my premiums were higher even though he CHAIN-SMOKED! Oh, and this ass-backwards insurance covered abortions, but not birth control. WTF? BTW, did you hear the Duggars are expecting their 19th! Sick!