With the inception of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2014, President Obama created a new system of health care that aimed to allow all Americans to carry health insurance, and in many cases, that insurance is subsidized by the federal government with our tax dollars.
His sales pitch to America was that by expanding access to health insurance, he would help create better patient-doctor relationships that would be effective in prineventing several of the chronic health conditions and concerns that affect the U.S. population— many of which affect women.
Now, no matter your stance on universal health care, a concern that every tax-paying American, man or woman, should take issue with centers on waste. This is especially true given the recent events surrounding the claims that Planned Parenthood seems to be in the business of selling aborted fetal body parts.
Now, if my tax dollars are being used to subsidize our national health care program, then why are my tax dollars also being allocated for Planned Parenthood? This isn’t a matter of ethics, but rather, of practicality.
Many of the clinical services Planned Parenthood offers— including Pap smears, breast exams, tests for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and abortions— can be performed by gynecologists, family practitioners and pediatricians. The ACA guarantees coverage for the vast majority of women’s reproductive needs.
According to Planned Parenthood’s 2013-2014 annual report, the latest data available, the organization received nearly $1.15 billion in revenue— $528.4 million of which came from the federal government.
During that period, it spent about $769 million on medical services, $45 million on sexuality education, $34 million on public policy and $12 million to engage communities. In all, the organization spent over $859 million in the fiscal year of 2014.
Planned Parenthood heralds its efforts to promote education among young women and expectant mothers, and certainly it should be applauded for those campaigns. But according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, under the ACA, women are now covered for annual counseling in STIs, HIV, contraceptive methods, breastfeeding support and interpersonal and domestic violence.
All things considered, if American tax dollars are being allocated for the ACA and Planned Parenthood, it seems like we are getting double-taxed. And I don’t want my tax dollars involved in promoting all the other programs that Planned Parenthood peddles outside the scope of medical care. In 2014, they spent $34 million in public policy. The average American does not control the political agenda of Planned Parenthood, and yet we are all paying for it.
Planned Parenthood accepts patients under Medicaid, private insurance and all state plans subsidized by Obama’s health care law. And again, this is the similar coverage that is offered by many other types of clinics. The only difference is they don’t receive added federal dollars.
Of course, for uninsured patients, Planned Parenthood services may prove cheaper than services offered at a regular doctor’s office. According to the organization’s website, many of its fees are based on a sliding fee scale, which depends on the patient’s income. Services like family planning, birth control, gynecological exams, pregnancy testing, STI testing and other reproductive health care services are on that sliding scale. But all of that should be irrelevant if the ACA, plus expanded Medicaid, is meant to guarantee health coverage for all.
The bottom line is this: There was a time in our country when Planned Parenthood played a role in providing women with medical services that otherwise were not available to people who had no insurance. However, to have, at present, an organization that continues to be subsidized by the taxpayer is not necessary. We now have the same services covered by ObamaCare, and millions of taxpayer dollars are helping to keep that system in check. And that system includes community hospitals, physician practices and community clinics that don’t receive any extra support from the federal government and only rely on the fees they receive from patient care.
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