Released by The White House - Office of the Press Secretary:
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
ON PREVENTIVE CARE
James S. Brady Press
Briefing Room
12:15
P.M. EST
Q Here we go.
THE PRESIDENT: Here we go.
Q Here he is.
THE PRESIDENT: Here I am.
Q "Hello, everybody."
THE PRESIDENT: That was pretty good.
Q I've been working on that.
THE PRESIDENT: Hello, everybody.
(Laughter.) I was actually going to say good morning. But I guess
it's afternoon by now.
As part of the health care reform law that I signed
last year, all insurance plans are required to cover preventive care at no
cost. That means free check-ups, free mammograms, immunizations and other
basic services. We fought for this because it saves lives and it saves
money –- for families, for businesses, for government, for everybody.
That's because it's a lot cheaper to prevent an illness than to treat
one.
We also accepted a recommendation from the experts
at the Institute of Medicine that when it comes to women, preventive care
should include coverage of contraceptive services such as birth control.
In addition to family planning, doctors often prescribe contraception as a way
to reduce the risks of ovarian and other cancers, and treat a variety of
different ailments. And we know that the overall cost of health care is
lower when women have access to contraceptive
services.
Nearly 99 percent of all women have relied on
contraception at some point in their lives –- 99 percent. And yet, more
than half of all women between the ages of 18 and 34 have struggled to afford
it. So for all these reasons, we decided to follow the judgment of the
nation's leading medical experts and make sure that free preventive care
includes access to free contraceptive care.
Whether you're a teacher, or a small businesswoman,
or a nurse, or a janitor, no woman's health should depend on who she is or
where she works or how much money she makes. Every woman should be in
control of the decisions that affect her own health. Period. This basic
principle is already the law in 28 states across the country.
Now, as we move to implement this rule, however,
we've been mindful that there's another principle at stake here –- and that's
the principle of religious liberty, an inalienable right that is enshrined in
our Constitution. As a citizen and as a Christian, I cherish this right.
In fact, my first job in Chicago was working with
Catholic parishes in poor neighborhoods, and my salary was funded by a grant
from an arm of the Catholic Church. And I saw that local churches often
did more good for a community than a government program ever could, so I know
how important the work that faith-based organizations do and how much impact
they can have in their communities.
I also know that some religious institutions -–
particularly those affiliated with the Catholic Church -– have a religious
objection to directly providing insurance that covers contraceptive services
for their employees. And that's why we originally exempted all churches
from this requirement -– an exemption, by the way, that eight states didn't already
have.
And that's why, from the very beginning of this
process, I spoke directly to various Catholic officials, and I promised that
before finalizing the rule as it applied to them, we would spend the next year
working with institutions like Catholic hospitals and Catholic universities to
find an equitable solution that protects religious liberty and ensures that
every woman has access to the care that she
needs.
Now, after the many genuine concerns that have been
raised over the last few weeks, as well as, frankly, the more cynical desire on
the part of some to make this into a political football, it became clear that
spending months hammering out a solution was not going to be an option, that we
needed to move this faster. So last week, I directed the Department of
Health and Human Services to speed up the process that had already been
envisioned. We weren't going to spend a year doing this; we're going to
spend a week or two doing this.
Today, we've reached a decision on how to move forward.
Under the rule, women will still have access to free preventive care that
includes contraceptive services -– no matter where they work. So that
core principle remains. But if a woman's employer is a charity or a
hospital that has a religious objection to providing contraceptive services as
part of their health plan, the insurance company -– not the hospital, not the
charity -– will be required to reach out and offer the woman contraceptive care
free of charge, without co-pays and without hassles.
The result will be that religious organizations
won't have to pay for these services, and no religious institution will have to
provide these services directly. Let me repeat: These employers
will not have to pay for, or provide, contraceptive services. But women
who work at these institutions will have access to free contraceptive services,
just like other women, and they'll no longer have to pay hundreds of dollars a
year that could go towards paying the rent or buying groceries.
Now, I've been confident from the start that we
could work out a sensible approach here, just as I promised. I understand
some folks in Washington may want to treat this as another political wedge
issue, but it shouldn't be. I certainly never saw it that way. This
is an issue where people of goodwill on both sides of the debate have been
sorting through some very complicated questions to find a solution that works
for everyone. With today's announcement, we've done that. Religious
liberty will be protected, and a law that requires free preventive care will
not discriminate against women.
We live in a pluralistic society where we're not
going to agree on every single issue, or share every belief. That doesn't
mean that we have to choose between individual liberty and basic fairness for
all Americans. We are unique among nations for having been founded upon
both these principles, and our obligation as citizens is to carry them
forward. I have complete faith that we can do that.
Thank you very much, everybody.
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