Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE Sen. Edward Kennedy says he intends to rekindle the national debate over healthcare by introducing legislation to expand the ranks of the insured and help trim healthcare costs. He also said he would introduce legislation calling for universal insurance coverage by the end of the year. Advertisement The Democrat from Massachusetts says fighting terrorism and ensuring homeland security are important, but "we cannot afford to neglect the health care crisis that affects many millions of our fellow citizens." Thirty-nine million Americans now have no health insurance and 30 million more will lack coverage for an extended period of time over the course of the year, Kennedy says. "We must act on three major fronts -- to reduce the shameful plight of the uninsured, to bring health costs down, and to enact a long overdue prescription drug benefit in Medicare," Kennedy said. Advertisement To reduce the number of uninsured, Kennedy said he introduced the Health Care for Working Families Act, which would require every company with more than 100 employees to provide health insurance coverage to its employees and dependents. This measure alone would assure coverage for more than a third of today's uninsured workers and pave the way for universal healthcare coverage, Kennedy said. Using 100 employees as the cutoff is "not going to do much good or much harm," Tom Miller, director of health policy studies at the Cato Institute, told United Press International. Almost all employers that large are already offering health insurance coverage, but the legislation could be used by Congress to get a foothold to mandate coverage, Miller said.. Kennedy's Efficiency in Health Care Act would require health providers and insurers to utilize Internet-based methods of bill processing, which could reduce administrative costs and "save enough to finance universal healthcare several times over," he said. A major pitfall of the bill is that it would be difficult to protect the confidentiality and privacy of healthcare records as soon as they have been placed on the Internet, Miller said. -- One-third of those who are uninsured are foreign-born and 43 percent are not citizens, therefore they do not vote. Will this hurt another attempt at universal health insurance? Advertisement -- Is the Internet secure enough for personal health information? (Thanks to UPI Medical Correspondent Steve Mitchell.) BIRTH CONTROL PILLS AS ABORTION AGENTS? Northern Kentucky health officials took the abortion debate to a new level by considering a proposal that would classify birth control pills as abortion agents, and reject the federal dollars that pay for family planning services, UPI reports. The proposal came up before the Northern Kentucky Independent District Health Board, which oversees a four-county area across the Ohio River from Cincinnati. Though National Right to Life has taken no position on birth control pills, Kentucky Right to Life, which is not affiliated with the national group, maintains the pills actually cause abortions because they make changes to the uterine lining that prevent implantation of a fertilized egg. The idea has left Jennifer Dalven, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union's reproductive freedom project, flummoxed. "To say we're going to take away someone's ability to decide whether they want to have children and when and how many children, it's such an extreme attempt by the government to intrude on what should be a family's private decision," she said. "People are seeing that the distribution of these materials is bad morals, bad medicine and bad public policy," Kentucky Right to Life President Robert C. Cetrulo told the Cincinnati Enquirer. Advertisement The proposal puts some $170,000 in federal Title X funds at risk, affecting an estimated 4,700 women. State officials say if the district votes to reject the Title X funds, they will find another provider for the area. -- Can birth control pills be considered abortion agents? -- Should health insurance pay for birth control? (Thanks to UPI Regional Editor Marcella S. Kreiter.) THONG-ATHON ON CBS The CBS television network will show an hourlong fashion show long on skin and short on material in its deal with Victoria's Secret. Last November, when ABC-TV aired its own highly rated but critically vilified special, "Victoria's Secret Fashion Show," the network drew protests from feminist organizations. Hundreds of viewers complained to the Federal Communications Commission. That heat may have driven ABC out of the lingerie business, TV Guide reports. However, CBS-TV gave a quick yes when Victoria's Secret sought a new partner. Network executives are hoping the show will do well with young viewers, male and female, while some critics deemed it soft-core pornography. The "thong-athon," as one network executive calls it, is scheduled for the November sweeps, that all-important period when ad rates at local stations are set, TV Guide reports. Advertisement Marquee musical guests are being lined up, and plans are afoot to give the Victoria's Secret special a major promotional push not only on the network but also on MTV, VH1 and TNN, which, like CBS, are part of Viacom. "(CBS) is going to amp it up, even beyond what ABC did. Everybody involved thinks the hotter the better -- it'll be like a high-fashion strip show and rock concert all in one," an industry insider told TV Guide. -- Is an hour of sexy lingerie soft pornography? -- Has the desire to increase the viewership of the 18-35 male demographic gone too far?
