How long have I been making noise for healthcare reform?  But I just can't feel like the House "reform" vote is a victory, though I know it is. But eliminating insurance coverage for abortion is NOT what I had been looking, hoping, and advocating for. Once again, the health of women is a political football. It is not about what's best for us, it's about political expediency, and that's just bullshit. The Stupak amendment is not about ensuring tax dollars don't pay for abortions -- the Capps amendment provided for that, along with the notorious Hyde amendment. It is about restricting women's access to healthcare.

Here's what our government says to women:  Making an intimate personal choice to end a pregnancy? No insurance coverage. Want to give birth in the privacy of your own home with a midwife and minimize costly intervention?  You may or may not be covered. Pressured into an unnecessary induction, epidural and cesarean because the ultrasound shows that the baby is big/small/whatever? Where's the checkbook?  At least in Washington State, the government is refusing to pay more for cesareans than for vaginal birth.  At least in Washington State, poor women can get Medicaid to pay for a midwife-attended birth or an abortion. 
 

My tax dollars pay for military action I do not support, and anti-abortion people refuse to allow premiums paid by individual women to go toward abortion coverage within their health plan. Why is my concern for life less valid than theirs? Please defund the Pentagon before asking me to give up my autonomy.  Women (& men) deserve the freedom to make our own best choices with dignity. Legal, covered abortion & homebirth for all women, now!

Based on the advice of an Aetna representative in March 2008, I chose an insurance plan for our family which I thought covered the naturopathic doctor we had chosen for our daughter Ramona.  All our well-baby visit claims were paid by Aetna, from 3/2008 through 2/2009.  However, in May 2009 we received a bill from our doctor stating that Aetna had taken back all payments for all dates of service.  We were shocked and canceled an appointment we had scheduled with he doctor for Ramona later in the month.  When we called the Starbucks benefits center, they told us (much to our surprise) that our plan did not cover naturopaths, but when we called Aetna, thought they confirmed that we did not have benefits for a naturopath, we were told that all claims had been re-paid to our doctor.  Totally confused, we called Starbucks benefit center on 5/26/09, where their rep (Alison) called Aetna.  We had a conference call with Aetna rep Dennis, who said that indeed, we did not have benefits with a naturopath, and that the payment had been made by Aetna in error and had been taken back from the doctor.  I got off the phone with all the information (including claim numbers and dates of service) needed to file an appeal.  When we called Jaye at our doctor's billing service, however, she told us that she had recently received payment for our visits and she no longer showed a balance.  At this point, we didn't know what to do, so we hoped that the payments shown in Jaye's system would be final.  We decided to change our plan to one that we were sure had coverage for naturopaths when we were able, which was in August 2009 during the Starbucks enrollment period, which we have now done.  However, we have also now received a new bill from our doctor's biller showing  that Aetna's payments for DOSs 2/28/09, 3/12/08, & 8/25/08 have indeed been taken back again.  I have not filed an appeal with Aetna because at this point I do not trust any action they take in payment of these claims to be final. 

I want all dates of service listed above to be paid by Aetna as they were initially paid.  If we had known about our lack of ND coverage immediately after our first visit 3/12/08, we would have changed plans or doctors, rather than continuing to accumulate non-covered charges with our ND, and thus we believe that Aetna should honor their original payments. 

I have been so cynical lately about getting repro health coverage in a health care reform bill, specifically abortion access.  I actually have more hope in the arena of homebirth midwifery.  Reading some of the health reform coverage here has given me some hope, because the issue is reframed here as what it really is, an issue of the health of women.  Thanks, RHRealityCheck.org.  I will remember to stay vocal on the subject of aboriton access for poor women. 

Listen to women.  

This, I believe is the key to good health-care policy when it comes to birth, abortion, contraception.  To anyone who will never be able to be pregnant or give birth, I challenge you to listen.  One benefit of the tragic death of Dr George Tiller is that it inspired many women to tell their stories of abortion.  Women are also telling their stories about birth. We will not be able to set good policy or provide good care until we learn from the stories of women.   

I have been encouraging everyone I know to share their helath care stories with their nationally elected representatives.  I am greatful that great minds like midwife and anthropologist Melissa Cheyney are doing the work of collecting the stories of women to be a part of the shaping of health care policy.   

Each women's story will be unique.  Cesarean birth may be life-saving and empowering for one women, and traumatic for another.  The same is true of abortion.  A contraceptive method which is perfect for one woman will cause annoying side effects in another.  When we listen to and synthesize women's stories, we see that empowering us to make the best choices for their own lives is the best foundation for health and well-being.  

Throughout history, women's truths have been devalued.  The common ground in the debate about women's reproductive health can only be found in the radical act of honoring the lived experience of women, and allowing policy decisions to reflect the reality of women's lives.  Personally, I beleive that the human dignity of a grown woman is worthy of more more respect than that of a fertilized egg.  I know that a woman's children almost certainly value her more than they would a zygote of a potential sibling. So let us listen to women.  And women, let us share our stories.  Let us educate eachother.  Let us all be willing to learn.