Wednesday, March 21, 2012

A Brookings Study on Government-Funded Contraception



This is quite interesting, given all the conservative misplaced furor about private health insurance coverage for contraceptives. The kind which is not paid by the tax payers.

A simulation suggests that access to family planning within the Medicaid program (which covers health care expenses of certain groups of low-income individuals) could save taxpayers quite a bit of money. The study concludes:
The research reviewed in this brief shows that evidence-based pregnancy prevention interventions are public policy trifectas: they generate taxpayer savings, they improve the lives of children and families, and they reduce the incidence of abortion. These cost saving policies are particularly well suited to the current fiscal climate, in which state lawmakers are struggling to balance their budgets and the federal government is grappling with a yawning debt that is projected to increase in the years to come.
Simulations are no better than their basic assumptions, of course. But common sense also suggests that avoiding unplanned pregnancies is a win-win for all concerned. If it also results in net governmental savings, what's not to like?

Ah. There's that thing about paying for someone else's sex life. Limbaugh told us all about that in a context which isn't even about taxpayer funding.