War on Women

The battle cry for the last few years revolves around a so-called "war on women". One political party seeks to manipulate sentiment for their side by proclaiming there is a war on women promulgated by the other party.

Incendiary comments are rife in politics and neither side has cornered the market. But in the case of the war

on women, apparently one side has a short term memory problem.

In a response to the March letter sent by Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee ranking member Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) with 36 signatures, HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell said the agency does not have “the legal authority to establish pregnancy as an exceptional circumstance” to create a special enrollment period.

Burwell said pregnant women could enroll in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

“Women with low and moderate incomes can enroll in these programs at any time if they qualify,” she wrote. “And, like all other qualified individuals, pregnant women can enroll in the Marketplace during the annual open enrollment period.” - The Hill

Apparently rewriting Obamacare by decree is only convenient if this is an election year.

• granting "free" birth control
• exemption waivers granted without regard to the law
• delaying employer and individual penalties for non-compliance
• extending and expanding the annual Obamacare enrollment period
• creating a new way to define a health insurance purchase
• allowing exchange enrollers to create an SEP in places where the law says otherwise
• granting extensions and waiving tax penalties
• blah, blah, blah ...............

#Obamacare #SEP  #pregnancy