August 20th, 2012 by Robert Franklin, Esq.
Last week, my wife excitedly told me that, as of August 1st, the Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. Obamacare) allowed her to get well woman exams free of charge – no deductibles, no co-pays. Great, I thought, finally some preventive care that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. Then it occurred to me that I’d seen nothing of the sort on behalf of men. Indeed, I’d just been to the doctor for my annual blood draw and I’d paid for the office visit and the lab fee. What gives?
What gives, as it turns out, is that I’m a man and she’s a woman. The Affordable Care Act has a list of preventive care for adults (i.e. men and women), a list of preventive care for women, and a list for children. Who’s missing? That’s right, I am. I’m an adult, so I get whatever is on the ‘adult’ list as does my wife. But are my uniquely-male medical needs addressed? Nope. There’s nary a peep about prostate cancer screening, testicular cancer or well man exams. Nothing. In a law that runs to thousands of pages, that covers every possible situation, they managed to neglect half the adult population. Amazing, but true.
So here’s a petition I signed and I hope you will too. It’s about bringing gender equality into the Affordable Care Act. What a concept! It doesn’t matter if you like or dislike the Affordable Care Act. The fact is that it’s the law of the land and will continue to be for the foreseeable future and probably longer. So given that it’s a fait accompli, let’s do that strange, even freakish thing – make it fair. Force those in Washington who daily kick men to the curb to do the right thing, the just thing, the moral thing. I know it’s not in their nature, but maybe they can change.