Michele Bachmann says Democrats will be to blame for loss of health benefits and increasing health care costs if the Supreme Court overturns the Affordable Care Act on Thursday.

During an appearance on Laura Ingrahm’s radio show today, Bachmann was asked how the GOP — which is pressing the high court to strike down the law in its entirety — would respond if “all the people under 26 who [are] thrown off their parents policies” and the possibility of Americans with pre-existing conditions being denied access to health insurance. Bachmann promised that the party would lay out broad principles for reform and push through free-market health care reforms, before suggesting that Democrats would oppose their effort and would thus be responsible for families losing access to health care coverage and suffering from higher costs:

BACHMANN: I would be more than happy to push that, but again, we’re dealing with a Harry Reid, a Democratically-controlled senate. They want nothing to do with freedom. They want nothing to do with bringing down the cost. All they want is a government-directed program. We want a people and doctor protected program.

Listen:

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) has consistently refused to implement the Affordable Care Act in his state. He rejected $9 million in grants from the health reform law that would have “focused on fighting drug and alcohol abuse” while cutting state funding for health services, like drug and alcohol prevention programs in schools. And he sent back federal grants to help the state set up its health care exchange.

Walker promised in January that he would not implement a state exchange program until after the Supreme Court ruled on the Affordable Care Act, but now the governor says he will not act on the law no matter what the ruling is on Thursday:

Earlier this month, the Republican governor went even further, saying that if the law is upheld he will not do anything until after the election, hoping that the next president and Congress will repeal it.

Only after those two fail would Wisconsin “figure out some alternative within the state,” Walker said in a statement released by his office this week.

The Associated Press points out that, in one of his first actions after taking office in January 2011, Walker authorized the state attorney general to join a multi-state lawsuit trying to block the law. At the same time that Walker has actively worked against a law that would expand affordable health care access to millions of Americans, Wisconsin residents face higher than average health costs, and 64,000 children in the state are uninsured.

Last week, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) — who made headlines when she claimed that “women don’t care about contraception” — vetoed a bill that would have allowed free HPV vaccinations for girls. The bill passed overwhelmingly with bipartisan support, but Haley blocked it, despite sponsoring a bill to mandate HPV vaccinations for seventh grade girls as a state senator. After her veto, Haley said that her 2007 sponsorship was a “mistake.”

Following Haley’s opposition to the HPV vaccine bill, MSNBC host Rachel Maddow said on her show that “being against cancer in the Republican Party is a scandal now”:

This week, the aversion to preventing cervical cancer — the idea that trying to prevent it is a scandal — that idea seems to be spreading…It is 2012 now, and so Governor Haley vetoed that bill. Because being against cancer in the Republic Party is a scandal now. At least being against cervical cancer is a scandal now. What, because it is a lady cancer, maybe? There is a vaccine for preventing this kind of cancer.

Watch Maddow’s comments:

The use of HPV vaccinations as a method to prevent cancer has scientific support. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “every year about 12,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and 4,000 women die from this disease in the U.S.” By stopping the transmission of the disease, the HPV vaccine is a way of preventing cervical cancer.

Haley is not the only republican to backtrack from earlier support for the vaccine. In 2007, Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) mandated the vaccine for young girls through an executive order. But when he was running for president, his GOP competitors blasted Perry for supporting the mandate. Perry eventually rescinded his position, and, like Haley, said that his support for the mandate was a mistake.

– Nina Liss-Schultz

Floods and abortions are distinctly different topics — except to Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who is trying to attach an anti-choice amendment to the Senate’s flood insurance bill.

After years of delay, senators recently came to an agreement over the flood bill and were set to vote on it this week.

But now, Paul is threatening to hold up its final passage by adding an amendment defining when life begins. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) expressed his displeasure with that move this morning, saying he would not bring the bill up for a vote if the amendment is added:

This is ridiculous, that somebody says I’m not going to let this bill goes forward unless I have a vote on when life begins. I am not going to do that, and I think I speak for the majority of senators. Now, if the Republicans won’t stand up to the person who is going to do that, I’m not going to. I have tried my best to deal with these issues that have nothing to do with a piece of legislation.

Watch it:

The National Flood Insurance Program helps homeowners whose houses are destroyed by floods — like those that devastated Minnesota and are currently sweeping Florida — and has absolutely nothing to do with abortion or conception.

Along with the outrageous economic ideas the Texas Republican Party has included in its 2012 platform, the state party is also promoting abstinence-only sex education and urging legislators to prohibit reproductive health services — including any “counseling” — in public schools.

In the 23-page document, Texas Republicans lay out their education platform, which includes the opposition of condom distribution because parents should have full control over what “medications” are administered to their children. The document goes on to reaffirm the Texas GOP’s staunch commitment to disproved abstinence-only education programs, according to the platform:

We recognize parental responsibility and authority regarding sex education. We believe that parents must be given an opportunity to review the material prior to giving their consent. We oppose any sex education other than abstinence until marriage.

Abstinence-only programs have been proven to have no real impact on rates of sexual abstinence. On the other hand, an increased understanding of contraception directly correlates to a decrease in young adults’ risky sexual behavior.

And while U.S. teen pregnancy rates are on the steady decline, states with more rigid abstinence-only policies lag behind the national average. Mississippi — where abstinence-only is the state standard — boasts the highest teen pregnancy rate in the country. Contrast that with the state with the lowest rate, New Hampshire, where comprehensive sex education includes information about condoms and contraception.

A 2007 report showed that only about half of the sexually-active high school students in Texas used a condom when last having sex. Texas Republicans’ abstinence-only stance — coupled with the states parental opt-out policy — engenders this massive education gap that results in young people doubting birth control is an effective way to avoid unwanted pregnancy.

(HT: Jessica Luther)

– Steven Perlberg

Tomorrow is National HIV Testing Day, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hopes that easily accessible tests at local pharmacies will encourage greater numbers of Americans to learn their HIV status.

The CDC is rolling out a pilot program to offer free HIV tests in drug stores in cities and rural communities across the country, in addition to the routine medical care like blood pressure checks and flu shots that pharmacies already offer.

Donna McCree, the associate director of health equity for the CDC’s Division of HIV/Aids Prevention, told the Root that the pilot program will deliver critical health services to populations that would otherwise neglect to get tested:

MCCREE: Pharmacies have a vastly untapped potential to deliver HIV testing in settings that are more accessible, and they are less stigmatizing for people who really don’t want to go into STD clinics or health departments to be tested. [...] Our data also tells us that about 30 percent of the U.S. population lives within a 10-minute drive of a retail clinic. So this is our attempt to bring testing to you, where you are.

We are looking forward to seeing what the pilot tells us, and what lessons we will learn, so that we can design a comprehensive toolkit for more pharmacists to use toward implementing HIV testing. That’s the critical first step to ending this epidemic: knowing your status and getting linked to care,” she said. “This is too important to remain in the dark.”

According to the CDC, as many as 20 percent of the estimated 1.1 million Americans who are infected with HIV don’t know that they have the virus. And since it can take more than a decade for an HIV infection to cause visible symptoms and illness, a third of HIV-positive individuals don’t get tested until so late into their infection that they develop AIDS within just one year of their diagnosis.

Researchers have pointed out that increasing access to medical resources like as HIV screenings, substance abuse treatment, and education is the best way to combat rising rates of HIV infection across the country. In some cities in the United States, HIV rates are close to the rates in some African countries — and rates of HIV infection skyrocket among low-income communities. In Washington, DC alone, the infection rate for heterosexual African American women in the city’s poorest neighborhoods nearly doubled over the past two years.

Mississippi’s only abortion clinic, the Jackson Women’s Health Organization, will likely be forced to close if it cannot comply with a restrictive new state law requiring its three doctors to secure hospital admitting privileges. And to make that happen quickly, state Rep. Sam Mims (R), who sponsored the measure wants the clinic to be inspected as soon as the law goes into effect on July 1, according to the Associated Press.

In a letter to the state’s health officer, Mims said there was no reason to delay an inspection:

“I am certainly aware that the Health Facilities Licensure Division is responsible for regulatory and enforcement duties on many types of facilities and does so with a limited number of employees,” Mims wrote in the letter, which he also sent to The Associated Press. “However, as the author of HB1390, this legislation was one of my priorities as chairman of the Public Health and Human Services Committee, and I consider it an important accomplishment.”

July 1 is on a Sunday, when most state government offices are closed. The clinic is also closed on Sundays, according to its website.

Health Department spokesman Liz Sharlot said the clinic could be inspected Monday, July 2.

“We will be inspecting the facility as soon as the law goes into effect to ensure the facility is in compliance,” Sharlot said Friday.

If the clinic is not in compliance with the new law, the Health Department will give it 10 working days to outline how it will meet the law’s requirements. The clinic’s spokeswoman Betty Thompson said the three doctors have applied for privileges at all area hospitals, and Diane Derzis, who owns the clinic, has said she will sue the state if they are unable to comply with the new law.

On Friday, the Kansas Board of Healing Arts refused to reinstate the medical license of Dr. Ann Neuhaus, who provided second opinions to abortion provider Dr. George Tiller between 1999 and 2006. Kansas law requires a second opinion to perform some late-term abortions. Neuhaus’ license was revoked by an administrative court in February following a 2006 complaint from the anti-choice group Operation Rescue alleging she did not take the safety of teenage patients seriously in 2003 because of the short length of patient record files for her cases.

But the sparseness of her patient notes was an attempt to protect their privacy from the anti-choice crusade of a state official. Around the time Neuhaus performed the abortions, the Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline was investigating abortion providers — going so far as to subpoena medical records and discuss those cases on right-wing television shows. Indeed, Neuhaus specifically cites Kline’s “investigation” while arguing her exams met accepted care standards:

She…testified that she didn’t put more details in her records to protect patients’ privacy. After the hearing, she said she was “unapologetic” for that, noting the Kansas attorney general’s office began investigating abortion providers, including Tiller, starting early in 2003, and in 2006, Fox television’s Bill O’Reilly strongly criticized Tiller and discussed a few of his patients’ cases on his program.

Kline faces an ongoing ethics complaint case alleging he “lied to the Kansas Supreme Court, misled a Johnson County grand jury investigating an abortion provider and discussed an ongoing case on ‘The O’Reilly Factor’” that throw weight behind Neuhau’s fears, but whether or not she could get a fair hearing was doubtful. Gov. Sam Brownback (R) recently appointed former Operation Rescue attorney Richard Macias to the board, and one expert witnesses called by the Board testified there were no cases in which providing an abortion could be beneficial to a patient’s mental health.

While Neuhaus plans to appeal, the entire saga paints a stark portrait of how pervasive anti-choice influence is at some state levels — and the untenable position that influence means for health care providers. Then again, perhaps it’s no surprise a state that seriously debated legislation that would force doctors to misinform their patients about health risks would put an anti-choice agenda before the well-being and medical privacy of it’s citizens.

Ahead of the Supreme Court’s Affordable Care Act ruling that’s expected Thursday, a new poll shows that while 56 percent of Americans oppose the law as a whole, most back its key provisions. The Reuters/Ipsos poll found that absent the controversy of the individual mandate, strong majorities favor most of what is actually in the health care law:

61 percent of respondents favored allowing young adults to stay on their parents’ insurance plans until age 26.

72 percent of respondents wish to maintain the requirement that companies with more than 50 workers provide health insurance for their employees.

82 percent of respondents favored banning insurance companies from denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions.

In recent weeks, some Republicans have come out in support of the most popular and successful Obamacare provisions, attempting to whitewash their longstanding blanket opposition. Insurance companies have also pledged to maintain key Obamacare measures regardless of the Supreme Court’s ruling.

– Steven Perlberg

The Supreme Court is expected to rule on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act this week and could potentially strike down part or the whole of ‘Obamacare.’ Below are 10 things you will miss about the law if the justices invalidate it:

1) Access to health insurance for 30 million Americans and lower premiums. More than 30 million uninsured Americans will find coverage under the law. Middle-class families who buy health care coverage through the exchanges will be eligible for refundable and advanceable premium credits and cost-sharing subsidies to ensure that the coverage they have is affordable.

2) The ability of businesses and individuals to purchase comprehensive coverage from a regulated marketplace. The law creates new marketplaces for individuals and small businesses to compare and purchase comprehensive coverage. Insurers will have to meet quality measures to ensure that Americans can access comprehensive coverage when they need it.

3) Insurers’ inability to discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions. Beginning in 2014, insurers can no longer deny insurance to families or individuals with pre-existing conditions. Insurers are also prohibited from placing lifetime limits on the dollar value of coverage and rescinding insurers except in cases of fraud. Insurers are already prohibited from discriminating against children with pre-existing conditions.

4) Tax credits for small businesses that offer insurance. Small employers that purchase health insurance for employees are already receiving tax credits to encourage them to continue providing coverage.

5) Assistance for businesses that provide health benefits to early retirees.The law created a temporary reinsurance program for employers providing health insurance coverage to retirees over age 55 who are not eligible for Medicare, reimbursing employers or insurers for 80% of retiree claims. The program has offered at least $4.73 billion in reinsurance payments to more than 2,800 employers and other sponsors of retiree plans, with an average cumulative reimbursement per plan sponsor of approximately $189,700.

6) Affordable health care for lower-income Americans. Obamacare extends Medicaid to individuals with incomes up to 138% of the federal poverty line, guaranteeing that the nation’ most vulnerable population has access to affordable, comprehensive coverage.

7) Investments in women’s health. Obamacare prohibits insurers from charging women substantially more than men and requires insurers to offer preventive services — including contraception — at no additional cost.

8) Young adults’ ability to stay on their parents’ health care plans. More than 3.1 million young people have already benefited from dependent coverage, which allows children up to age 26 to remain insured on their parents’ plans.

9) Discounts for seniors on brand-name drugs. Pharmaceutical manufacturers are required to provide a 50% discount on prescriptions filled in the Medicare Part D coverage gap. Seniors have already saved $3.5 billion on prescription drug costs thanks to the Affordable Care Act provision.

10) Temporary coverage for the sickest Americans. The law established temporary national high-risk pools that are providing health coverage to individuals with pre-existing medical conditions who cannot find insurance on the individual market. In 2014, they will be able to enroll in insurance through the exchanges. 67,482 individuals have already benefited from the program.

Tell Congress that you stand with Obamacare by adding your name here.

In March, the federal government cut off funds to Texas’ Women’s Health Program because the state chose to exclude abortion providers from the program in violation of federal law. But even without federal funds, which made up 90 percent of the funding, Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) announced the state would fund the Women’s Health Program on its own.

But to pay for the reduced services provided by the program, the governor announced that the state would cut other health services. Perry directed Tom Suehs, executive commissioner of the state’s Health and Human Services department, to cut $40.1 million in department services to make up the missing federal funds.

Cuts will come by reducing dental services, programs for the elderly, and administrative pay. Even with this money freed up, the Women’s Health Program will not be nearly as strong as it was with federal funding.

The $40.1 million reduction comes on top of cuts that lawmakers cut $73 million from the state’s family planning services budget in 2011. Even before Texas decided to ban Planned Parenthood from the Women’s Health Program, women’s clinics around the state were already being forced to greatly reduce services or shut their doors entirely.

–Ben Sherman