McCain Declines To Answer Question About Insurance Coverage For Birth Control

Main Category: Health Insurance / Medical Insurance
Also Included In: Sexual Health / STDs;  Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 11 Jul 2008 - 6:00 PST

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Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) on Wednesday declined to answer a question about whether insurance companies should be allowed to cover Viagra but not birth control medications, the AP/Google.com reports (Babington, AP/Google.com, 7/9).

Carly Fiorina -- former CEO of Hewlett Packard and one of McCain's head surrogates -- on Monday raised the issue when discussing McCain's health care plan, the Los Angeles Times reports. Fiorina said, "Let me give you a real, live example, which I've been hearing a lot about from women. There are many health insurance plans that will cover Viagra but won't cover birth control medication. Those women would like a choice" (Decker, Los Angeles Times, 7/10). NARAL Pro-Choice America President Nancy Keenan said a McCain presidency would offer women no such choice. "Obviously, she doesn't know his record," Keenan said, adding, "He really did vote against a proposal that would have required insurance companies" to cover prescription contraceptives in the same way they cover Viagra (Marinucci, San Francisco Chronicle, 7/10).

When asked about the vote on his campaign bus Wednesday, McCain said, "I don't know enough about it to give you an informed answer because I don't recall the vote. ... I don't usually duck an issue, but I'll try to get back to you." McCain campaign spokesperson Brian Rogers said Fiorina was discussing McCain's "vision for choice and competition in health insurance," adding that McCain would open insurance markets "for greater variety and competition, allowing women to choose policies that fit their needs. An example is the choice for women to dump a policy that only covers Viagra for a policy that covers their real needs" (AP/Google.com, 7/9). Another McCain aide added that the senator opposes mandating coverage for certain medications. The aide said the bill McCain voted against also included a provision the senator opposed that mandated coverage for emergency contraceptives (Cooper, "The Caucus," "The Caucus", 7/9).

Keenan said that it was not the first time Fiorina misrepresented McCain's position -- citing Fiorina's comments to supporters of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) that McCain "has never signed on to efforts to overturn Roe v. Wade." According to the Chronicle, McCain repeatedly has said during his presidential campaign that Roe should be overturned (San Francisco Chronicle, 7/10). During a campaign appearance in Portsmouth, Ohio, McCain said that there is a "big difference" between his position on abortion and that of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) ("Political Ticker," CNN, 7/9). McCain criticized Obama for voting against a ban on so-called "partial-birth" abortion in the Illinois Legislature, and said that one way to improve U.S. families would be to "respect human life both born and unborn" (Martin, The Politico, 7/9).

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