What happens to abortion and womens healthcare under single payer?

[JaneyVee]

Being that we have a Constitution that defends religious liberty and amendments that prevent fed money from paying for things that interfere with religious liberties?

[JaneyVee]

1. Anyone?

[dogman]

2. How come we pay for war then?

What is happening to abortion and women's healthcare under the status quo? Some problems will remain problems and will still have to be fought for. We need Supreme Court justices who will actually uphold the Constitution.

[JaneyVee]

8. Because the first rule of...

Commander in Chief is to protect America. This country was founded on war and revolution.

That will be the answer they give to your question.

[dogman]

11. And the Hyde ammendment is the answer to yours.

You still haven't answered how it will be different than the ACA. Hillary promises to reform it. How?

[choie]

29. Actually

The role of the president and cc is to preserve, protect and defend the constitution, not its people. And it's the United States, not "America". Our country is not "America"

[democrattotheend]

38. That is my argument

On the one hand, despite my strong feelings about abortion rights, I believe in theory that it is unfair to force someone who believes it is murder to finance it through their tax dollars. On the other hand, the same rationale would apply to funding for weapons and for executions. So until those who oppose war and/or oppose the death penalty on religious grounds are able to prevent their tax dollars from being used for those activities, I don't think it is fair that those who oppose abortion are protected in this way.

In all likelihood, if Congress actually had the votes for single payer they would also have the votes to repeal the Hyde amendment.

[Motown_Johnny]

3. The bill isn't written so it is impossible to give a definitive answer

but I think it would be safe to say that no damage to woman's rights would come of it and it may be possible to help expand access.

Anyone who tries to give a definitive answer is lying.

[WhiteTara]

5. Only if they get rid of the Hyde amendment. nt

[JaneyVee]

9. Even then, there would be never ending law suits.

[WhiteTara]

12. and countless bills introduced

to restrict women's rights.

[Peacetrain]

4. Yikes.. I never thought about that..

very good question..

[HERVEPA]

6. Your concern is noted.

[JaneyVee]

7. Yeah, as a woman myself I shouldnt care I guess.

Your unconcern is noted.

[HERVEPA]

18. I believe your concern is a shot at Bernie and one-payer.

Just a wild guess of course given your previous posts.

[JaneyVee]

19. You guys scream about "discussing the issues!", then...

Shut down conversation about the issues?

Fine. I'll go back to posting polls of Hillary's big leads.

[HERVEPA]

20. No doubt you will. Those posts (on either side) are so useful.

[Armstead]

37. Because discussing issues with brick walls yields little intellectual satisfaction

[magical thyme]

10. since Hillary has already offered to compromise on abortion, we can drop that bit of health care

for women if she wins.

[auntpurl]

13. That is an excellent question.

I have mixed feelings about single payer. Living in the UK, obviously it's fantastic that my healthcare is free, and I say that as someone who lived in the US for many years without health insurance and has the phone calls from debt collectors to prove it! However, the NHS is a mess, because it is a big, lumbering, perpetually underfunded behemoth of a government program that cannot respond to the needs of its clients (patients) because it is hamstrung with waste and red tape. Care suffers. And that's in a TINY country compared to the US.

The ACA isn't perfect, but believe me, single payer isn't perfect either. I don't understand why we would trash a program we already have to try to implement something that Congress will never pass and that may not be better for America.

[dogman]

15. It isn't "trashing it" if it is replaced with something better.

The current ACA leaves millions uninsured. That is a really good reason to make changes.

[auntpurl]

17. And Hillary is in favour of improving the program we have...

I trust her to fight for those improvements.

[dogman]

21. I trust Bernie.

His improvements do more for the people. That's what the Primary is about.

[auntpurl]

22. It sure is.

That's why we both have a vote. I will support whomever is the Dem nominee in November; I hope you will too.

[Svafa]

23. Has she ever specified what improvements she would make and how she would make them?

[auntpurl]

24. She sure has.

https://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/health-care/

"Hillary has never given up on the fight for universal coverage—and she won’t stop now. Building on the Affordable Care Act to expand coverage for millions of Americans, Hillary will:

Make premiums more affordable and lessen out-of-pocket expenses for consumers purchasing health insurance on the Obamacare exchanges. Hillary believes that in order to expand coverage for families, we need to reduce the cost of purchasing health insurance on the Affordable Care Act exchanges. Her plan will provide enhanced relief for people on the exchanges, and provide a tax credit of up to $5,000 per family to offset a portion of excessive out-of-pocket and premium costs above 5% of their income. She will enhance the premium tax credits now available through the exchanges so that those now eligible will pay less of a percentage of their income than under current law and ensure that all families purchasing on the exchange will not spend more than 8.5 percent of their income for premiums. Finally, she will fix the “family glitch” so that families can access coverage when their employer’s family plan premium is too expensive.

Support new incentives to encourage all states to expand Medicaid. Hillary will fight for health insurance for our lowest income residents living in every state across the nation. Hillary will follow President Obama’s proposal to allow any state that signs up for the Medicaid expansion to receive a 100 percent match for the first three years, and she will continue to look for other ways to incentivize states to expand Medicaid to meet the health needs of their most vulnerable residents.

Invest in navigators, advertising and other outreach activities to make enrollment easier. Today, as many as 16 million people or half of all those uninsured are eligible but not enrolled in virtually free Medicaid coverage or exchange coverage for as little as $100 a month or less. Hillary will ensure anyone who wants to enroll can understand their options and do so easily, by dedicating more funding for outreach and enrollment efforts. She will invest $500 million per year in an aggressive enrollment campaign to ensure more people enroll in these extremely affordable options.

Expand access to affordable health care to families regardless of immigration status. Hillary sponsored the Immigrant Children’s Health Improvement Act in the Senate, which later became law and allows immigrant children and pregnant women to obtain Medicaid and CHIP. She believes we should let families—regardless of immigration status—buy into the Affordable Care Act exchanges. Families who want to purchase health insurance should be able to do so.

Continue to support a “public option”—and work to build on the Affordable Care Act to make it possible. As she did in her 2008 campaign health plan, and consistently since then, Hillary supports a “public option” to reduce costs and broaden the choices of insurance coverage for every American. To make immediate progress toward that goal, Hillary will work with interested governors, using current flexibility under the Affordable Care Act, to empower states to establish a public option choice.
Going forward, Hillary will build on these efforts and fight to ensure that the savings from these reforms benefits families—not just insurance companies, drug companies, and large corporations.

Defend the Affordable Care Act. Hillary will continue to defend the Affordable Care Act (ACA) against Republican efforts to repeal it. She'll build on it to expand affordable coverage, slow the growth of overall health care costs (including prescription drugs), and make it possible for providers to deliver the very best care to patients.

Lower out-of-pocket costs like copays and deductibles. The average deductible for employer-sponsored health plans rose from $1,240 in 2002 to about $2,500 in 2013. American families are being squeezed by rising out-of-pocket health care costs. Hillary believes that workers should share in slower growth of national health care spending through lower costs.

Reduce the cost of prescription drugs. Prescription drug spending accelerated from 2.5 percent in 2013 to 12.6 percent in 2014. It’s no wonder that almost three-quarters of Americans believe prescription drug costs are unreasonable. Hillary believes we need to demand lower drug costs for hardworking families and seniors.

Transform our health care system to reward value and quality. Hillary is committed to building on delivery system reforms in the Affordable Care Act that improve value and quality care for Americans.

Hillary will also work to expand access to rural Americans, who often have difficulty finding quality, affordable health care. She will explore cost-effective ways to broaden the scope of health care providers eligible for telehealth reimbursement under Medicare and other programs, including federally qualified health centers and rural health clinics. She will also call for states to support efforts to streamline licensing for telemedicine and examine ways to expand the types of services that qualify for reimbursement."

[EndElectoral]

27. Don't see anything in there about the topic which includes funding for abortions

[auntpurl]

28. ...because Hillary isn't running on a platform of single payer?

This OP was about what would happen to funding for abortions if single payer was enacted. Hillary isn't running on that platform. She wants to expand and improve the ACA. I was asked if Hillary has ever explained the improvements she wanted to make re: the ACA and I replied with her healthcare platform from her website, which lists things in detail. I hope that clears it up for you.

[Svafa]

30. The only improvements here I see are ones that probably won't be implemented. I don't see rethugs

in my state adopting medicaid expansion, regardless of what "incentives" she throws at them. This is just more of the same, no improvements will be made.

[auntpurl]

31. As I said above, I believe she will fight for her platform.

The argument of "How are you going to get this through Congress?" applies much more strongly to Bernie than it does to Hillary. In any case, this is why we all have a vote.

[Svafa]

32. I think it applies equally to both.

Rethugs have a long-standing visceral hatred for Clinton, for whatever reason. They will obstruct her as much as, if not more than, Obama. Our only real hope of anything getting done at all is for congress to shift. Hopefully it will.

[auntpurl]

34. And on that we agree!

[KingFlorez]

14. Those things would be tied up in litigation

I imagine that women's healthcare would end up being almost completely handled by private doctors charging high doctors fees.

[bigbrother05]

16. It would violate your religious liberty only if you were forced to have a procedure

Would single payer violate a Christian Scientist's rights? Circumcisions? Fertility services?

There are lots of things that have religious implications that are routinely covered now.

[beedle]

25. Same thing that happens

with the current situation and any 'improved' plan Hillary comes up with.

That issue will have to be addressed.

What's so special about 'single payer' that's not also an issue for any other plan?

If 'single payer' means 'state level' then the state will act as the state sees fit and the issue will have to be addressed at the state level.

If 'single payer' is federal, then there is one 'payer' to deal with, and assuming that a federal level single payer is enacted one might assume that Bernie's appointments to the SCOTUS would deal with the constitutional issue appropriately.

Or are you assuming Cruz enacts single payer and appoints an anti-abortion justice?

[EndElectoral]

26. Under the Affordable Care Act no plan is required to cover abortion.

This is the plan Hillary has been endorsing.

Under Medicaid there is some federal funding.

http://www.guttmacher.org/statecenter/spibs/spib_SFAM.pdf

I think your question is a valid one, however, it is an interesting question to BOTH candidates in regards to federal funding of abortions in lieu of the Hyde Amendment.

My assumption is you are asking how do people pay for abortions, not if it is within their rights.

In Medicare, a single payer elderly health care system, it is not an issue.

[dsc]

39. Medicare covers the disabled as well

my non elderly sister is on it. I have no idea if it covers abortion or not, but there are women of childbearing years on it.

[Autumn]

41. I don't imagine it would. I know a young lady on Medicaid and Medicaid didn't pay for

her abortion, she had it done at PP and paid cash, that's a government program. I have good insurance and it doesn't pay for abortions. I guess one could buy a policy that covers them.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

33. So. What would change with single payer?

Are the feds going to refuse to allow abortions and interfere with women's religious liberties?

[pat_k]

35. Covering contraceptives, morning after, or abortion "interfers"...

with no ones religious beliefs. They are perfectly free not to use services.

[shawn703]

36. Can't offend the Christian Scientists

No healthcare for anyone? Let's not be ridiculous here.

[Autumn]

40. The same as it is now under the ACA and Medicaid.