Posted on 09/13/2011 8:05:21 PM PDT by MN_Mike
“Opting-Out” of HPV Vaccine WILL NOT WORK for Many in Texas
Governor Perry is misleading legislators and families in Texas by claiming that they will be able to “opt-out” of having their 6th grade daughter vaccinated with the vaccine for the sexually transmitted virus HPV. For many families currently, the exemption isn’t worth the piece of paper it is printed on. Besides the simple fact that parents should not have to get permission from the state to make informed consent medical decisions for their own children, here are four reasons why “opting-out” of sate mandated vaccines doesn’t work for many families in Texas:
(Excerpt) Read more at aapsonline.org ...
My favorite is the 1st bullet, about how it is apparently virtually impossible to actually follow the opt-out process.
This is because it is so very complicated that I guess the people at this web site (who seem like very intelligent people) can't figure it out.
Which is what makes it so gut-bustingly funny, when you actually READ their treatise on how "hard" it is.
Essentially, the reason it is nearly impossible for the average texan to use the process is that they actually have to ASK for a form (which the state kindly prints out for you WITH all the information filled in). Then they have to WAIT for it to come in the mail.
Then it gets harder, because they have to check off which vaccines they are opting out of (the web site actually MISSED that step), and then they have to SIGN the paper.
After THAT, they have to turn it in with their other papers when the kid goes to school.
You can all see how horribly difficult that is. However, they did miss that you can request the form online, which makes it slightly easier.
Apparently, it was also brutally hard for them to figure out the process. I decided I would see how terribly hard it was.
So, I went to google, and typed "Texas vaccine opt-out".
I got a link to an ONLINE web form. It took me 30 seconds to fill out the form with ALL of the information on my two children ("all" means nothing but their name, birthdate, and my address -- something the people at the web site thinks is a horrible lot of information to have to remember).
You then hit "enter" (or maybe "submit", I can't remember.
Then you wait. The state takes the request, prints up the form with all the information filled in for you, and mails it to you. (the web site actually COMPLAINS that getting it by mail is burdensome. I guess they thought it would be better if you had to go down to the office and pick it up).
Now, compare the two processes -- getting your kid vaccinated, or opting out:
VACCINATION PROCESS:
OPT-OUT process:
Note: It is EASIER to OPT OUT of vaccines in Texas, than it is to GET the vaccines.
Like I said, go to the link and read it. It will give you a good laugh. It's clear these people have no idea what REAL paperwork is. They probably have never had to fill out the "free or reduced lunch request" paperwork.
Addendum: I just took a temp job as a halloween haunt monster. As part of my "processing", I had to fill out 15 pages of forms that are required by the government, mostly to see if the employee qualifies for one or more government credits for hiring the "right kind" of worker.
So accepting a job was about 14 times HARDER than opting out of a Texas vaccine program.
you should read the link before you claim it was a lie. The link will crack even you up.
I dare you to go read the “opt-out process” and come back here and with a straight face, admit that you find it too complicated to understand. Even if you WANTED to make a political point, I don’t think you could bring yourself to pretend you were that stupid.
RIck Perry actually got less than 1/50th of the money that the RGA raised over the last 5 years, despite being one of 50 republicans running for Governor, and being from the 2nd largest state.
But nice try making his excellent leadership in the RGA a negative. Didn’t work, but I guess you had to try. His efforts at the RGA helped elect a bevy of conservative Governors to office around the country. He got $4 million of the RGA’s $217 million in funds, as I said less than 1/50th of the total.
Thanks for the link. The whole Gardocare issue make Perry supporters into hypocrites if they go into the “government can’t force us to buy goods or services” argument. Perry’s executive order would have forced everyone in Texas who bought health insurance to buy a policy that included the HPV vaccine.
IT is government controlled medicine.
ObamaCARE/RomneyCARE/PerryCARE
They are all the same.
NO MORE SOCIALIZED MEDICINE run by MANDATORS, like RINO Rick.
What’s that, Mike? Why quibble about little things like FACTS? Why are you here?
What bothers me the most here is that Perry could not get this through the legislature, so he decided he knew better and used an Executive Order to force it. And when the people rebuked him, he didn’t like it.
This, in itself, is just one of the huge list of reasons I despise Obama. His admin uses the EO to bypass Congress way too much.
While Perry is good on some things, this is a character flaw IMO.
Discussing whether or not the vaccine is good or bad is not the issue.
To those that are upset the issue came up at all. It was going to come out sooner or later. No way was Perry going to be able to keep this under wraps on the way to the WH.
Parents’ Rights.The Department of State Health Services will, in order to protect the right of parents to be the final authority on their children’s health care, modify the current process in order to allow parents to submit a request for a conscientious objection affidavit form via the Internet while maintaining privacy safeguards under current law.
at least 20 states have enacted legislation, including Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Washington.
The CDC announced that The New Hampshire Health Department announced in 2006 that it will provide the vaccine at no cost to girls under age 18.
As of May 2007, the department reports they have distributed over 14,000 doses in the state. South Dakota's governor also announced a similar plan in January 2007 that combines $7.5 million in federal vaccine funds and $1.7 million from the state's general fund.
As of May 2007, the department reports distributing over 20,000 doses of the vaccine. The Washington legislature approved spending $10 million to voluntarily vaccinate 94,000 girls in the next two years.
On February 2, 2007, Texas became the first state to enact a mandate-by executive order from the governor-that all females entering the sixth grade receive the vaccine, with some exceptions. Legislators in Texas passed H.B. 1098 to override the executive order and the governor withheld his veto.
The Virginia legislature passed a school vaccine requirement in 2007 and considered a bill that would delay that requirement but it was passed by indefinitely by the Senate Committee.
In 2007, at least 24 states and D.C. introduced legislation to specifically mandate the HPV vaccine for school (California and Maryland withdrew their bills). DC's bill was enacted and requirement started 30 days after Congressional Review Period expired. See the bills marked under the school mandate column in the table below for more information.
As of October 2010, 19 state have proposed HPV related legislation or resolutions in 2009-2010. See the charts below for more information.
As of April 2011, 3 states have proposed HPV related legislation for the 2011 session. See the chart below for more information.
http://www.ncsl.org/default.aspx?tabid=14381
“Opting-Out” of HPV Vaccine WILL NOT WORK for Many in Texas
Governor Perry is misleading legislators and families in Texas by claiming that they will be able to “opt-out” of having their 6th grade daughter vaccinated with the vaccine for the sexually transmitted virus HPV. For many families currently, the exemption isn’t worth the piece of paper it is printed on. Besides the simple fact that parents should not have to get permission from the state to make informed consent medical decisions for their own children, here are four reasons why “opting-out” of sate mandated vaccines doesn’t work for many families in Texas:
“Opt-out” or Conscientious Exemption to Vaccination Process is a Bureaucratic Nightmare
To get the exemption form, parents must first submit a written form to State Health Department in Austin which forces the disclosure of the child’s full name, birthdate, and mailing address. The Health Department takes those written requests and creates yet another form on which they print the child’s same personal information that the parent had to send to health department, and the Health Department sometimes takes weeks to mail out these forms inevitably disrupting the child’s school attendance. The Health Department only sends the forms by U.S. mail, and once the parent receives the forms, they must be notarized within 90 days of submitting them and then repeatedly resubmitted every 2 years even though there is no expiration set in statute. [1] Because the Health Department further eroded parental rights by publishing more rules getting rid of provisional enrolment for exemptions, (families used to have 30 days at the beginning of school to get their paperwork in), now schools participate in aggressive misleading education campaigns touting “no shots – no school” while not informing families of the exemption or the instructions how to obtain it.
Private Schools Deny Admission
The Texas attorney general issued an opinion in April of 2006, ga0420, that states that private schools do not have to accept the conscience exemption to vaccination in Texas Law[2], and many private schools do not. For example, the Dallas Diocese for Catholic Schools policy number 5024 states, “Schools will comply with immunization requirements established by the Texas Catholic Conference Education Department. Conscientious objections/waivers are not accepted in schools of the Diocese.” [3] Every new vaccine mandate causes more children with valid legal exemptions to be denied their private school education.
Doctors Refuse Medical Care
Even though you may be able to get a piece of paper from the state health department affirming your right to refuse state mandated vaccines for your child, just try and find a doctor who will honor it! According to a recent study published in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 39% of pediatricians surveyed said they would throw kids out of practices who are not vaccinated. [4] PROVE has documented this rampant problem of doctors dismissing families utilizing a vaccine exemption in Texas to the legislature in previous sessions. Please review our report entitled “The Erosion of Public Trust & Informed Consent through Immunization Harassment, Discrimination and Coercion” prepared for the House Public Health Committee in 2005. [5]
Insurance Rates Rise and Accessibility Affected
Responsible parents who have secured health care coverage for their children will be forced to pay higher insurance rates whether they want the HPV vaccine or not. Even if you “opt-out” of the HPV vaccine mandate for Gardasil by Merck by securing a conscientious exemption waiver, there is no way for Texas parents to “opt-out” of the corresponding rise in their insurance premiums. § 1367.053. (a) (2) of the Insurance Code REQUIRES that any vaccine required be law must be covered by insurance. [6] This first-dollar coverage requirement results in corresponding direct hiking of insurance premiums to meet costs, and for a vaccine as expensive as this one, an HPV vaccine mandate risks putting premiums for basic health care coverage out of reach financially for even more Texas families. Additionally, we have received complaints from families where insurance companies are harassing parents with letters and discriminating on coverage based on whether or not the child has had all their state mandated vaccines.
Are you getting paid by Perry for this non-sense? You should be.
So, let me pose a reverse argument with you. Are you suggesting that governors of all other states who don’t impose a mandatory requirement with an “opt-out” are guilty of malfeasance? How about countries and their governments?
Finally, Gov Perry can’t possibly have it both ways. He was perfectly happy having a mandatory immunization with “opt-out” (see Association of American Physicians and Surgeons). He was only stopped when Congress intervened.
Of late, he has said that it was a mistake and he should have had an “opt-in.” Doesn’t sound like a defense of his former position.
So, was Perry wrong then or now?
To get the exemption form,
The "exemption form", just so people know, is the form you turn in to claim the exemption.
parents must first submit a written form to State Health Department in Austin
By "first", they mean "only", because this is the only step needed to get the exemption form. "first" implies that there are more steps, but there are not. Unless you count "addressing the envelope", "put on a stamp", "put in the mailbox" as separate steps. Except that you don't actually HAVE to submit a written form, you can do this step online, at the easy-to-find web link. Takes 30 seconds to fill out the form for a family of 2 and send it off. Wow -- 30 seconds, that's really hard.
And who cares where the state agency is? it's not like you have to go their in person -- you are just sending a letter, or filling out an online form.
which forces the disclosure of the child’s full name, birthdate, and mailing address.
In other words, they ask for the most basic information needed to identify the children for which you want an exemption. Oh, and your mailing address so they can MAIL YOU BACK THE FORM YOU ARE REQUESTING. They make it sound like most parents have no idea what their child's middle name is, or that it is some great violation of privacy to give the birth date.
Note that all this information is given to your local school system as part of registration.
The Health Department takes those written requests and creates yet another form on which they print the child’s same personal information that the parent had to send to health department,
In other words, the state then fills out the entire form for you with all the correct information, so you don't have to worry about that part. Since the form goes into records at the school, this is helpful, so the parents don't have to type information onto a form. I have no idea why they list this as part of what makes it complicated.
and the Health Department sometimes takes weeks to mail out these forms inevitably disrupting the child’s school attendance.
Only if the health department is failing to meet the statutory deadlines, AND the parents waited until the last minute to start the process. Interestingly, a little later they are going to complain about how "quick" the process is.
The Health Department only sends the forms by U.S. mail
As opposed to pony express? How else would you get a form? It's the actual form you turn in, they can't really e-mail it to you (and if they did, I'm sure the authors would scream about how hard it is to get their printer to work).
and once the parent receives the forms, they must be notarized within 90 days of submitting them
See, here's where they complained that the process was too quick. BTW, that's 3 months. So, the parent asks for the form, gets the form, waits until 3 months before school starts, then gets the form notarized. That is so complicated that the doctors couldn't figure it out?
and then repeatedly resubmitted
In other words, "resubmitted". You don't "repeatedly resubmit", you "resubmit". And you can ask for up to 5 forms in your request, so you can have a stack of them ready to go. Just don't sign them until you need them.
every 2 years
Yes, you have to do this once for each 2 years of your life. Which is half as often as you have to do ALL the other paperwork the school require, all of which are harder to fill out than this form.
even though there is no expiration set in statute.
This has nothing to do with "how hard" it is, But here is the Texas Administrative Code for exemptions: Texas Administrative Code RULE §97.62 Exclusions from Compliance:
To claim an exclusion for reasons of conscience, including a religious belief, a signed affidavit must be presented by the child's parent or legal guardian, stating that the child's parent or legal guardian declines vaccinations for reasons of conscience, including because of the person's religious beliefs. The affidavit will be valid for a two-year period.
Because the Health Department further eroded parental rights by publishing more rules getting rid of provisional enrolment for exemptions, (families used to have 30 days at the beginning of school to get their paperwork in), now schools participate in aggressive misleading education campaigns touting “no shots – no school” while not informing families of the exemption or the instructions how to obtain it.
In other words, Texas removed the 30-day exemption period, and they remind parents that there is no longer a grace period, so the kids don't get sent home from school for multiple days at the beginning of the school year. Note that this ALSO has nothing to do with "how hard" it is to get the exemption.
Sorry. The simple fact is that getting the exemption is EASIER than actually getting vaccinated.
GETTING VACCINATED FOR SCHOOL
OPT-OUT
It is truth. I gave links to factual information. You just choose not to believe it. Damn, I wish I was getting paid. Who's paying you to attack Perry on every Perry thread? Obama? Bachmann? Romney? He's my governor and I have voted for him several times. I plan to vote for him again. He has already been vetted in Texas several times.
So, let me pose a reverse argument with you. Are you suggesting that governors of all other states who don’t impose a mandatory requirement with an “opt-out” are guilty of malfeasance? How about countries and their governments?
I never said anything about other governors. I never said anything about countries or their governments. I posted directly from a government source the status on the vaccine up to date.
Finally, Gov Perry can’t possibly have it both ways. He was perfectly happy having a mandatory immunization with “opt-out” (see Association of American Physicians and Surgeons). He was only stopped when Congress intervened.
An opt-out that was easy as pie. He only did the mandate so that families could get the expensive shot and their insurance would pay for it. Or if they did not have insurance then medicare paid. His Executive Order was overturned by the Texas Legislature.
Of late, he has said that it was a mistake and he should have had an “opt-in.” Doesn’t sound like a defense of his former position.
He said it was a mistake to go the route of executive order and that he should have gone to the Texas Legislature instead. He never said he thought the vaccine was wrong. He still believes the vaccine would help young women avoid cancer (many agree with him including the president of M.D. Anderson Hospital) but never intended to force anyone to have it and was emphatic that parents retain their rights to have it or not to have it for their daughter(s).
An opt-in would not work with the insurance companies. He has dealt with cancer in his family and he has said numerous times that he hates cancer. It was never a mandate due to the easy opt-out it included. Parents would have still been in control. He could have gone the Sarah Palin way and take Federal Dollars to pay for it.
And again, it never went into effect so why are we talking about it.
So, was Perry wrong then or now?
In my opinion, the only mistake he made was using the executive order. However, I understand why he did it. I believe he was trying very hard to help young Texas Women avoid a terrible cancer and I refuse to fault him for it.
Now let me get THIS straight, you call it non-sense when facts are put before you and you just don't agree with it.
Look, if you don't like Perry, then vote for somebody else. Here in Texas, things are good. The only problem we have right now is it's getting crowded from all the people moving in from other states. Business is good. Jobs are great! Property is going up in value. Taxes are low. Paul lied btw and he is my Congressman. Houses are selling and for more than what people paid for them. New Houses are being built everywhere. People are getting jobs. People are getting raises. People are spending money. New Businesses are opening. The malls and restaurants are packed. People are happy. Did Perry cause all of that? No but he did do a lot in the last 10 years that created an atmosphere here in Texas that led to it.
So you support PerryCARE.
You used to support RomneyCARE.
Do you still?
There’s no such thing as “PerryCare”, except in your furtive imagination.
I oppose mandatory Gardacil Vaccination on required-school lists. Always have. Even wrote opinion columns about it.
I never supported RomneyCare, and Romney’s continued defense of it is a primary reason I have no interest in him for 2012.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.