My colleague Amanda Marcotte and I sat down for Salon Talks with Carrie Lukas, president of the Independent Women’s Forum (IWF), to discuss how the unresolved debate over health care policies in the Republican-dominated Congress impact women’s health issues.
IWF is a conservative and libertarian organization that creates messages about how women and families can be empowered by the free market rather than big government. With headlines like, “In the Poconos, Another Small Business Falls Victim to Unnecessary Licensing” and “Who Cares for the Caregivers?” and “Trump Education Department's Likely Changes in Campus Sexual-Assault Policy Causes Angst Among Activists,” IWF writes about health care, women at work, education, women in politics and more.
When it comes to women’s health, is there an imbalance in health care costs?
Carrie Lukas: If you’re an infertile woman, let’s say -- or a woman who doesn’t want to have kids -- I can imagine saying, "You know what, my insurance has gone up the same as a woman who’s had five kids." I don’t know why everybody should have to be subsidizing maternity expenses.
Should we have to subsidize other people’s health care expenses in the first place?
Amanda Marcotte: I’m happy to pay that money [for another woman’s maternity costs] so that when I get cancer, her higher premiums cover me.
Should we subsidize each others’ costs when it comes to beliefs? For example, why should a person who doesn't drink for religious reasons pay for substance abuse programs?
Marcotte: If I get hit by a car driven by a drunk driver, and they didn’t get alcohol abuse treatment, then yes, that does affect me. ... It’s a community issue -- we all depend on each other’s health care.
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